Auburn traveled to Athens for a meet against its SEC rival, picking up its season-high road score with a 196.350 but ultimately falling to the home team.
The Tigers came off of a season-high 196.700 versus Missouri last week and hoped it would boost momentum. They were also given a few extra days of practice and recover before competing on their biggest stage of the season at the pre-Super Bowl meet.
"There were some real bright spots, but there were definitely areas for improvement," said Auburn head coach Jeff Graba. "It was a little bit of a slow start, but we finished the right way on beam with a great showing on vault in the middle."
The first rotation saw Auburn on the bars, where it put up a 49.100 in comparison to Georgia’s 49.125. Sophomore Derrian Gobourne clinched the rotation high with a 9.9 and she closed them out. However, it was the freshmen who truly showed out. Aria Brusch, Cassie Stevens and Adeline Sabados put up a respective 9.8, 9.775 and a career-high of 9.85.
"It felt really good knowing that all the hard work is paying off in the gym," Stevens said. "It's really great having the teammates that I have because I know I can trust them and they can trust me."
Rotation two on the vault was full of Yurchenko fulls for the Tigers as the style was used by four of the gymnasts. Senior Gracie Day set her season-high after pushing a 9.85. Gobourne and junior Drew Watson led the Tigers both with a 9.9. Auburn ended the vault with a season-high of 49.300 and tied the Bulldogs at 98.400 for the meet.
"We've practiced well on vault all season so we weren't really surprised by this score," Graba said. "I'm happy to see it showing up in competition and now we have to duplicate it."
The tie was short-lived as the Tigers' floor routines pulled a 48.700 while the Bulldogs picked up a 49.425 on beam. Auburn freshmen Stevens and Brusch clinched the floor lead, each with a score of 9.8.
The final rotation on beam shaped up Auburn and pulled its second-highest beam score of the season with a 49.250. Three of the Tigers gymnast tied with some of their personal highs. Watson was awarded a 9.875 to tie her career-high. Junior Meredith Sylvia equaled her season-best on a 9.9. Stevens tied her career-best with a 9.825.
"Under all kinds of circumstances, we have consistently performed well on beam," Graba said. "The team is taking away a lot of confidence each time they go out there and they are just building throughout the season."
The Tigers will find themselves at home for the next two matches starting Feb. 7 vs. Kentucky at 6 p.m. CST.
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Mattison Allen is a senior from Springville, Ala. She's majoring in public relations communications with the goal of becoming a sports information director one day.
