The No. 13 Auburn gymnastics team lost its home opener Friday night, Jan. 11 against conference opponent No. 25 Kentucky. The Wildcats posted a total score of 195.525, beating the Tigers' score of 194.250.
Kentucky took an early lead after the first two events, receiving a score of 97.875 on the bars and vault. Auburn closely trailed with a total score of 97.525 after a fall from Abbey Habicht on the bars set the Tigers back by a few deductions.
"I'm frustrated," said head coach Jeff Graba. "We are either really good or we have some falls. Our youth is showing."
The Tigers had a strong showing on the beam, posting a 48.9, the team's highest score for any event of the night. It was not enough, though, as Auburn suffered a loss in the overall competition.
The team came into the meet ranked No. 13 after competing in California against No. 19 Arizona, No. 25 Kentucky and unranked California. The Tigers finished fourth with a total score of 194.625, ousted by the first place 195.425 score of California, followed by Kentucky, then Arizona.
CollegeGymFans.com, a gymnastics site dedicated to the rankings and analysis of college teams, recently ranked Auburn's 2013 freshman class No. 10 nationally.
The class includes freshmen Kara Koster, Kait Kluz, Kelsey Kopec and Caitlin Atkinson. This is the second year in a row the Auburn freshmen have been ranked in the top 10 based on their national performances before attending the University.
"We made some mistakes," Atkinson said. "We hit when we needed to hit, but this season we've become closer and always have fun."
The Tigers are one of eight SEC teams to be ranked in the national top 25 this year, led by No. 1 Alabama. Auburn's match-up against Kentucky was the first of seven straight ranked opponents the Tigers will be competing against in the coming weeks.
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