No. 12 Auburn hosts No. 8 Arkansas in regular season finale

AUBURN, Ala. – The No. 12 Auburn gymnastics team closes out the 2021 regular season Friday, March 5 in Auburn Arena, hosting No. 8 Arkansas at 7 p.m. CT. The two teams will go head-to-head on SEC Network+.
 
"Arkansas is really clicking this year and is a really good team," head coach Jeff Graba said. "This is yet another opportunity for our young squad to show that they can go head-to-head with anyone in the country. We're excited to close out the season at home and are looking forward to Friday night."
 
EVENT INFORMATION
In accordance with current state health COVID-19 guidelines, Auburn Arena capacity will be reduced to approximately 20% for the 2021 Auburn gymnastics season. Tickets for home meets have been reserved for Auburn students as well as season ticket holders who opted in. No single meet tickets will be available in 2021.
 
To meet SEC protocol and to allow for proper physical distancing, the team corrals will take up the west side of the arena floor. Bleachers in sections D-N will be unavailable for student/fan seating for the 2021 season. In addition, seating in sections A-C will not be available. Available seats will be arranged in groups of two and four with 6 feet of distancing between each block of seats. Unavailable seats will be marked accordingly.
 
Face coverings (over the nose and mouth) will be required for all spectators and gameday workers upon entry and while inside the arena. Guests may remove face coverings while actively eating or drinking. Additional information related to health and safety guidelines for Auburn Arena will be communicated directly to ticket holders.
 
More information can be found at the Auburn Gymnastics Meet Day website by clicking HERE.
 
AUBURN LINEUP
The Auburn tentative lineup features 17 of 24 possible routines coming from sophomores or freshmen. Of the 17, 13 will come from the sophomore class.
 
The Tigers will kicks things off on vault being the home team Friday. From there, they will head to bars and beam and close out the night on floor.
 
The first rotation is vault for the Tigers and the squad will see a wealth of youth in the lineup. Freshman Olivia Hollingsworth will lead off with a Yurchenko full after scoring a season-best 9.775 at Florida last week.
 
Sophomores Piper Smith and Adeline Sabados will go second and third with classmate Cassie Stevens working her way back in the lineup in the fourth spot. Senior Drew Watson will go fifth after she reached a season-best at Florida, scoring a 9.9. Junior Derrian Gobourne will anchor for the squad.
 
Watson and Gobourne are set to compete their Yurchenko 1.5s for the team. The pair are among the Top 25 nationally on vault with Watson tied for 23rd (9.888) and Gobourne tied for 17th (9.894).
 
Auburn heads to bars for rotation two. The team is among the Top 10 nationally in the event with a 49.313 NQS. Sophomore Anna Sumner will once lead things off and Piper Smith is set to go second. She's ranked in the Top 35 nationally in the event with a 9.831 NQS.
 
Sabados is down in the third slot on bars and is ranked regionally with a 9.831 NQS. Stevens and classmate Aria Brusch will go fourth and fifth for the squad. Brusch is coming off back-to-back scores of 9.9 or better, including a career-best 9.925 vs. Georgia.
 
Gobourne will anchor for the squad on bars. She currently ranks tied for 11th in the event with a 9.9 NQS.
 
The Tigers head to beam for the third rotation and are tied for 13th nationally with a 49.194 NQS. Sophomore Morgan Leigh Oldham will lead off following a successful performance vs. the Gators last week where she set a career best with a 9.8. Watson is slated to go second with Hollingsworth going third. The freshman earned a career-high 9.825 at Florida last week in the event.
 
Senior beam specialist Meredith Sylvia is down for fourth and is tied for 13th regionally with a 9.875 NQS. Freshman beam phenom Gabby McLaughlin is slated to go fifth and is ranked tied for 11th nationally with a 9.919 mark. Stevens will anchor the squad after tying her career high last week vs. the Gators with a 9.875.
 
Auburn caps the night on floor. Sabados will lead off following a career score of 9.85 last week. Brusch is set to return to the floor lineup for the first time since the season opener.
 
Hollingsworth and Stevens will go third and fourth, while Watson is down in the fifth spot. Gobourne will finish off the meet in her best event where she ranks third nationally with a 9.944 NQS.
 
UP NEXT
Postseason kicks off in two weeks at the SEC Championship. Auburn and the other seven Southeastern Conference schools will face off in a two-session format at the Von Braun Center in Huntsville, Ala., March 20.