LIVE BLOG: No. 11 Georgia at No. 5 LSU

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Big match-up here tonight between Georgia and LSU! Although LSU is currently ranked quite a bit higher than Georgia, the Tigers haven’t looked unbeatable this season, and the Gymdogs will certainly be on a quest to claim their first regular season win over LSU since 2016.

LSU had a much stronger outing last Friday than its somewhat disappointing season opener the previous weekend, improving its team total by roughly seven tenths. Haleigh Bryant made her all around debut and scored a massive 39.600 to soar into second in the national rankings. Overall, the Tigers look to be in a much better position than many seemed to think they were after week one, but they will need to continue to focus on details in order to stay above the mid-ranked SEC teams.

Last weekend, Georgia showed its depth and resilience when it was able to maintain a score in the 196-range despite losing star freshman Victoria Nguyen to injury prior to the third event. However, in order to be a real threat to the Tigers, the Gymdogs will need to key in on vault and floor landings as well as demonstrate a confident and consistent beam lineup. There is a lot of room for growth this week and making a few of these minor improvements could be a difference maker in the outcome.

https://twitter.com/LSUgym/status/1352787298547421184?s=20

Rotation 1: LSU VT, Georgia UB

Brock (LSU): FTY stuck with great form in the air! 9.825

Cashman (UGA): Good first hs, Tkatchev low with leg and feet issues, fine bail, knees on the giants into a good double lay with a small step. 9.775

Shchennikova (LSU): Y 1.5 pretty nice with a decent sized hop forward. 9.875

Schild (UGA): Good first hs, big Ray, little leg separation on the bail, nice final hs, closed-hip double lay with a tiny step. 9.800

Arenas (LSU): FTY with a bit of a pike down and small step back. 9.800

Baumann (UGA): Small leg separation on blind, Jaeger a bit close, nice transition, double lay flies out a bit and she hops forward. This was her first time ever competing bars! 9.775

Edwards (LSU): Big open Y 1.5 with a step back. 9.825

de Jong (UGA): Good hs, close on the Ray, bail is nice, BEAUTIFUL double lay with a teeny foot slide. 9.875

Durante (LSU): FTY with a flair at the end, tiny slide back. 9.850

Roberts (UGA): Toe full a little crazy, clean Maloney + bail, nice double lay in the air but hops forward. 9.850

Bryant (LSU): HUGE FHS pike half!!! Hops back on the landing. 9.900

Ward (UGA): Shaposh + bail–bail is super short and crunchy, double lay is nice but takes a step back. 9.575

Ryan (LSU): EXH — STUCK Y 1.5!!! That should be in lineup next week!

Finnegan (UGA): EXH — Maloney + pak with leg separation and drags her feet through the bottom, dismount landing is also crazy and she takes a few crunchy steps back.

After one: LSU 49.275, UGA 49.075

Pretty good first rotation. LSU looked great on vault just didn’t quite get those landings. Georgia made it through bars without a fall, but wasn’t spectacular… Overall I’d say scores look a littttleee high but nothing crazy.

Rotation 2: Georgia VT, LSU UB

Baumann (UGA): FTY a little crunchy on the table and piked down with a big step forward. Not a great start… 9.625

Johnson (LSU): Maloney + bail really nice, clean double lay with a little slide back. Guess she’s only competing bars tonight because of a tight achilles… yikes. 9.875

de Jong (UGA): FTY chest down a bit on the landing with a tiny hop. 9.775

Dean (LSU): Short hs, misses the Ray… re-mounts short hs again, feet and knee problems on the bail, double lay pings out and takes a hop. 9.150

Cashman (UGA): FTY pretty good. Some soft knees but prettttty much stuck. 9.825

Dunne (LSU): Good hs, pretty nice Tkatchev to pak, toe hand half pirouette is veryyyyy short, double lay with soft knees and wonky body shapes throughout. 9.700

Lukacs (UGA): Big FTY with a hop back. 9.775

Bryant (LSU): Clean blind + Jaeger, bail is a little archy, double front dismount with a step back. 9.900

Ward (UGA): Tsuk full piked down and a big step back. 9.775

Shchennikova (LSU): Close Ray with flexed feet, pak and pirouette are fine, double lay pings out with her usual position issues and a hop forward. 9.800

Roberts (UGA): Y 1.5 lands a bit lock-legged and takes a step back. 9.850

Durante (LSU): Good blind + clean big Jaeger, good pak, pirouette right on top of the bar, full-in with a “college stick” (aka not a stick). 9.900

After two: LSU 98.400, UGA 98.075

Okay, bar scores got a bit hairy in that last rotation. However, I’d say that the split we currently see between the two teams is accurate.

Rotation 3: LSU BB, Georgia FX

Desiderio (LSU): Happy to see she’s okay after last week! Great leap connection, floaty bhs loso, full turn with a small check, solid front aerial, cat leap + gainer full with a step and lifts her leg up??? *Makes no wobble set on the beam. Wobbles on the floor* What a gymnast thing to do haha. 9.800

Perez-Lugones (UGA): Big double pike and slides back, whip half + front lay is nice and controlled, leap connection is lovely, another big double back and has to lift up the front leg in the lunge. 9.825

Durante (LSU): Bhs loso super solid, front aerial + split is great, switch + straddle 1/4 looks like she’s a little off but hides it well, side aerial + stuck full. Nice! 9.850

Austin (UGA): BIGGG controlled double pike, little shy of 180 on the leaps, front full + front lay with a large lunge. Love her routine but she just looks a little tired. Clean double tuck to finish. 9.875

Bryant (LSU): A little off on the front aerial but hangs on and is able to do the bhs out of it, great leaps, confident front tuck, punch Rudi dismount with a small step forward. 9.875

Roberts (UGA): Huge piked full in! WOW! Front lay + front full and hops into a lunge, decent leap pass, double pike but pops her hips open on the take off which makes her land a bit short. 9.800

Dean (LSU): Overcooks the turn a bit, fantastic side aerial + bhs, switch + split–split has some form stuff, front aerial + flutter jump… personal pet peeve: when people don’t stretch open during flutter jumps… like just get your arms up please! Good dismount. 9.875

Cashman (UGA): Big double pike and hops back, RO + 1.5 front lay totally stuck! Controlled double tuck. 9.875

Arenas (LSU): Bhs loso solid, front toss is low and crooked, little shy of 180 on switch + split combo, side aerial + flutter is good, RO + 1.5 is really crunchy and takes a huge step to the side off the mat. 9.625

Hawthorne (UGA): Oh boy! Massive double pike and flies back, front lay + Rudi + split is great! Love this music and set! Just caught myself bopping along to the music lol. Double tuck is is big but opens a little soon and steps forward. 9.800

Campbell (LSU): Bhs loso and lifts the foot up, front aerial + sissone is good, switch + switch half/straddle quarter (??), floaty RO + double full with just a bit of a foot slide. 9.950

Baumann (UGA): Wolf turn is a little wonky (but like, when aren’t wolf turns wonky), double pike and bounces back, back 1.5 + front full lands squatty but stays on her feet. She looked really tired through that whole set. 9.600

Shchennikova (LSU): EXH — Candle mount, good bhs loso, Onodi is nice, switch with a low back leg, front aerial slightly off but keeps it under control, bhs + stuck gainer full. She looks THRILLED!

Dunne (LSU): EXH — floaty bhs loso, front aerial with soft legs, switch + switch half is a bit shy of 180 on the half, gainer full with her chest down and a small step.

After three: LSU 147.750, UGA 147.250

Whelp ladies and gentlemen, the scoring has officially gone a bit haywire. Don’t get me wrong, there were some beautiful beam and floor routines! But there were some very obvious landing problems on both events that seem to have gone unnoticed.

Rotation 4: Georgia BB, LSU FX

Schild (UGA): Pretty press hs mount, front aerial + bhs + bhs with a tiny check, side aerial + flutter jump is good, lovely extended leaps, gainer pike off the end doesn’t rise at all and lands with her chest low with a tiny hop forward. 9.800

Dean (LSU): Floaty double pike with flexed feet, RO + 1.5 with soft knees + front lay, leaps don’t quite get all the way around, double tuck is a bit low. 9.900

Finnegan (UGA): Bhs loso solid, side aerial + wolf is a maybe not connected but these judges will probably take it, good leaps, big RO + 1.5 with a hop forward. Good debut! 9.750

Campbell (LSU): Back 2.5 is one of the most controlled I’ve ever seen, double pike with some feet issues, good leaps, back 1.5 + lay with a little step back. 9.875

Lukacs (UGA): front toss + flutter is solid, bhs + loso with a slight check and soft knees, hitchkick-y type jump into a switch side, full turn is a little too aggressive, good RO + 1.5 with the smallest little slide forward. 9.800

Shchennikova (LSU): Front double full + scale out of it, strong combo pass, big Rudi + split! That was much better than the last time I watched her. 9.900

Hawthorne (UGA): Bhs loso with a big wobble that she really probably didn’t need to take, leaps a little short and a bit hesitant in the connection, nice turn, STUCK RO + 1.5! 9.800

Desiderio (LSU): Double lay with a pike down but much better landing than last week, combo pass is a little off but she stays on her feet, double tuck and lands superrrr short and puts her hands down. 9.200

de Jong (UGA): Switch + split is fantastic, great front aerial to EXTENDED flutter jump, great bhs loso, split half good, side aerial + full with maybe a really really tiny foot slide. AMAZING ROUTINE! 9.925

Edwards (LSU): Front double full is super controlled, front full + front full… love that pass! Double tuck with a tiny lift of the foot. Cute routine with some awesome tumbling! 9.925

Baumann (UGA): side aerial + loso with a big leg up wobble, flutter step out + switch side is an interesting combo, RO + 1.5 with a tiny foot slide and chest down. 9.800

Bryant (LSU): HUGE double front nearly stuck! Front lay + Rudi also very high and controlled, front double full slightly out of control. Incredible set! 9.850

People are booing soooo I’m guessing not a super high score?

Okay, 9.850…. I kinda agree with the boos. That was better than most of those 9.900s…

Final: LSU 197.200, UGA 196.375

Good meet for both teams. LSU really proved itself tonight and even showed its incredible depth with exhibitions on every event. Georgia kept up fairly well throughout the meet but ultimately, it came down to the same issues it has been struggling with all season — a shaky beam rotation and landing problems on every event.

AA – Haleigh Bryant 39.475

V – Haleigh Bryant 9.900

UB – Durante 9.900

BB – Campbell 9.950

FX – Edwards 9.925

Live blog by Rachel Riesterer

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