AUBURN, Ala. – The No. 9 Auburn gymnastics team travels to No. 12 Kentucky for its final Southeastern Conference regular season match up of the year. The Tigers and the Wildcats will face off at 6 p.m. CT in Memorial Coliseum on Friday, March 3.
"Kentucky is really good and have done a really great job this year," head coach Jeff Graba said. "They are definitely really good at home and it's a tough place to compete. It'll be another good test for our team and we need to get another solid road score this Friday."
As the team inches closer to the postseason, the Tigers are looking to take advantage of the opportunity to do exhibitions this Friday on the road to solidify lineups.
"I think we know what our options are for final lineup as we get closer to the postseason," Graba said. "The goal in these last couple of meets is to exercise our second and third options to see where we are. We need to put some people under some pressure and to be judged so we're looking to do that this week.
"All road meets are extremely important, especially this late in the season. Anything we can do this Friday will be beneficial."
POTENTIAL LINEUP
The 2023 Auburn gymnastics squad brings a wealth of experience to the table this season. The tentative lineup features one fifth year, five seniors, two juniors, three sophomores and one freshman.
The Tigers will go bar, vault, floor and beam on Friday as the visiting squad.
Auburn's top eight will remain the same for bars to start the meet. Leading the way will be sophomore Sunisa Lee, who has scored two perfect 10.0s on the season. She leads the country with a 9.965 NQS.
Joining her in the top eight will be fifth year Derrian Gobourne, who is coming off a season-high 9.95.
Seniors Aria Brusch, Adeline Sabados and Cassie Stevens, juniors Olivia Hollingsworth and Gabby McLaughlin and sophomore Sophia Groth are all set to compete for a spot.
Brusch competed for the first time on bars last week, scoring a 9.9.
The vault lineup will look the same this week as the last. The squad put together a 49.450, their second-highest of the season.
Lee is among the nation's best in the event and won the vault title last week with a 9.95.
Gobourne, Stevens, Hollingsworth and sophomore Sara Hubbard all bring a Yurchenko 1.5 to the lineup. Hubbard and Gobourne recently scored a 9.9 in the event.
Joining them will be Sabados, Groth and freshman Hannah Hagle.
Rotation three will send the squad to floor.
Gobourne headlines the floor lineup after finishing second nationally and earning two All-America honors in the event last year. She ranks tied for seventh nationally with a 9.940 NQS and has scored a 9.95 or better five times already this season, including a pair of 9.975s.
Joining Gobourne in the top eight is Brusch, Lee, Stevens, Hollingsworth and Groth. Lee also has two 9.975s on the season, while Groth has earned four-straight 9.9s.
Hollingsworth has three 9.9s this season, while Stevens has earned a 9.925.
Also battling for a spot in the lineup this week will be Hubbard and McLaughlin.
The final rotation will have the Tigers on beam.
Lee leads the team with a 9.915 NQS and two 10.0s so far this year.
Stevens captured the beam title on the road at Missouri, while Groth and Brusch earned a pair of 9.875s.
McLaughlin won the beam title against Georgia last week, scoring a 9.9 for the squad.
Hollingsworth will look to hold her spot in the lineup, while Hagle and senior Morgan Leigh Oldham are both in the top eight.
UP NEXT
Auburn closes out the regular season with a nonconference match up with Penn State. The Tigers and the Nittany Lions will face off at 7 p.m. CT in Neville Arena on SEC Network+.
