No. 9 Auburn will take on Penn State in its last home meet of the season in Neville Arena on Friday at 7 p.m. CST.
This isn’t just the last dual meet of the season, it also fan favorites, Suni Lee and Derrian Gobourne’s last meet as Tigers at home.
Even though Lee is just a sophomore, earlier this season Lee announced that she would be leaving Auburn to start training for the 2024 Summer Olympics after the conclusion of the season.
“I am so excited to share that after this season I will be returning to elite gymnastics. I have my sights set on Paris in 2024, and I know what I have to do to get there," Lee said in a Twitter announcement.
Lee was rested in the last meet against Kentucky in order to prepare for the final stretch of the season, but she will not be competing against Penn State due to a non-gymnastics health issue.
Gobourne has exhausted all her years at Auburn, finishing up her fifth season on the Plains. She will be graduating in the spring with a degree from the College of Human Sciences.
Seniors Aria Brusch, Morgan Leigh Oldham, Adeline Sabados, Piper Smith, Cassie Stevens and Anna Sumner will all be recognized as a part of Senior Night along with Gobourne.
This will be the 11th overall meeting between the Tigers and the Nittany Lions.
Penn State is coming off a big home meet, tying its ninth-highest score in program history.
Auburn has a losing all-time record against Penn State, standing at 3-7. However, Auburn is ranked inside the top 10 nationally in three events: floor, vault and bars. Penn State is not ranked inside the top 20 in any events.
Ava Piedrahita, a freshman for Penn State, picked up four individual wins in its last meet which included three career-high scores.
Piedrahita ranks No. 46 in the nation and No. 10 in the Big Ten for all-around scores.
In the last meet for the Nittany Lions, no one scored a perfect 10. While this is hard, the Tigers consistently throw routines that are close to a perfect 10, usually landing only a few hundredths off.
Penn State’s highest score was a 9.925 which it will need to better on multiple occasions to defeat Auburn, especially in Neville Arena.
If Penn State manages to defeat Auburn, it will be the first time since March 12, 2016.
After this, Auburn will compete in the SEC Championships in Duluth, Georgia, which will be broken up into two sessions. The first session will be held March 18 at 2:30 p.m. CST and the other will follow at 7 p.m. CST. These both will be broadcasted on the SEC Network.
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Lily has been with The Plainsman for three years and started out as a Sports Writer before becoming the Operations Editor. She graduates in May of 2024 and is from Washington, D.C.
