AUBURN, Ala. – The No. 14 Auburn gymnastics team heads to No. 20 Georgia for a Friday night match up on March 1 in Athens. The teams will face off at 6 p.m. CT in Stegeman Coliseum and the meet will be televised on SEC Network.
"We have one more dual meet left and it happens to be at one of our rivals," head coach Jeff said. "Georgia is always a tough environment to compete in and this is a team that will give us their best at home. We need to be focused and prepared to be successful this Friday."
With National Qualifying Score now in play, the Tigers are looking for another opportunity to improve their ranking with a solid score on the road.
"This is a great opportunity for us," Graba said. "We have some road scores that we'd like to improve upon and are looking forward to the opportunity to do that this Friday."
Friday's meet kicks off four-straight weekends away from the Plains as Auburn becomes road warriors for the remainder of the season.
"We're on the road the rest of the season both to finish the regular season and the postseason," Graba said. "We are going to have to really focus on ourselves and keep in our bubble to achieve the goals we have for the rest of the year."
POTENTIAL LINEUP
Auburn will be visiting the Bulldogs this Friday and will start on bars followed by vault, floor and beam.
Junior Sophia Groth and redshirt freshman Olivia Greaves both are in the top eight after scoring 9.9s against Missouri last week, a career high for Greaves.
Joining the pair will be fifth years Aria Brusch and Cassie Stevens. Brusch put together a season-best 9.875 last week, while Stevens has been a solid contributor all season.
Seniors Olivia Hollingsworth and Gabby Mclaughlin along with sophomore Hannah Hagle and freshman Emma Grace Boyd round out the top eight.
Hollingsworth and McLaughlin each have 9.9s under their belt this season, while Boyd and Hagle have competed for the Tigers.
Auburn will head to vault for rotation two and is coming off a 49.200 last week.
Stevens, scoring a 9.9, competed her 200th routine last week and earned a share of the title on Senior Night.
Joining the her are seniors Sydney Schumaker and Hollingsworth and juniors Sophia Groth and Sara Hubbard. Hubbard tied her season best last week with a 9.875 against Missouri.
Freshman Julianne Huff along with Paige Zancan both have a spot in the top eight for the squad. Huff has been a top performer for the squad, having a pair of 9.925s on her Yurchenko 1.5.
The Tigers will go to floor for the third rotation and have been a solid team this season in the event with an NQS of 49.375.
The top eight includes Stevens, Hollingsworth, Brusch, McLaughlin and Groth.
Hollingsworth and Stevens tied for first last week with both scoring a 9.95 - a career high for Stevens and a matched career high for Hollingsworth.
Groth had a 9.9 and McLaughlin a 9.875 to help the Tigers earn a 49.575.
Hagle has competed in four-straight meets on floor for Auburn and tied her career high of 9.9 last week.
Competing for a spot in the lineup is Hubbard and Zancan as the pair are also in the top eight.
The Tigers will end the night on beam where the team ranks tenth nationally with a 49.275 NQS.
Stevens earned the event title with a 9.925 on Friday and was closely followed by Hollingsworth and Groth, who both scored 9.9. That tied a career high for Hollingsworth.
McLaughlin has been one of Auburn's top performers in the event and is ranked tied for 21st nationally with a 9.895 NQS.
Brusch, Zancan, Hagle and redshirt freshman Hailey John are also among the top eight. Zancan and Brusch have been a consistent 1-2 punch to start the lineup for the squad this year.
UP NEXT
Auburn stays on the road, going to 2024 Podium Challenge in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The Tigers will face No. 3 LSU along with Texas Women's and George Washington on March 8th at 6 p.m. CT. The podium meet will be held in the Raising Cane's River Center.
