Closely-ranked opponents No. 12 Auburn and No. 13 Missouri will face off in Neville Arena this Friday, where each team hopes to gain its second conference win of the season.
Auburn is coming off of a tough road loss to No. 3 LSU, where it scored a 197.100 which was a season-best road score for the Tigers despite the loss. This season high maintained the Tigers place at No. 12 and bumped their scoring average to 197.082.
This Friday’s meet will be Auburn’s final home meet of the regular season. As of the last four matchups of the series, the home team has come up with the victory. Auburn currently leads the series 33-11.
“I want a good home meet. That means it will probably be a good score if we have a good home meet… The score is the most important thing that we can do this Friday,” said Auburn head coach Jeff Graba.
Auburn is currently ranked sixth on beam with a 49.279 average and 13th in both vault and floor. Auburn’s beam team has remained consistent for the past three weeks, scoring at least 49.4 points each week.
Fifth-year Cassie Stevens moved up to No. 17 in the all-around and 14th in vault after the last meet against LSU. She is averaging a 39.496 overall and a 9.882 average on vault. The senior is also ranked 30th nationally on beam.
Friday night’s home meet is not only the final meet in Neville Arena, but it will also be used to honor those with breast cancer and the graduating seniors. The Tigers' team currently includes four seniors and two graduate students on their roster, one being Stevens.
“I’m just really excited for one more time. It’s obviously a lot behind the scenes, a combination of five years in this arena,” Stevens said. “This year has made me realize just how special this particular building is, as an arena to compete in.”
Missouri also has its fair share of impressive seniors to look out for in the upcoming meet. Mara Titarsolej earned the bar title in Missouri's last meet with a perfect score, making her the first in Missouri gymnastics history to earn a 10 on bars.
Titarsolej was also named SEC Co-Specialist of the Week because of her perfect performance on bars which was Missouri’s second consecutive SEC Specialist of the Week after Jocelyn Moore took it home in the meet against Kentucky.
Missouri is currently ranked seventh on floor, 11th on vault and 13th on bars. The Tigers moved up one spot in the rankings after last week, placing them at No. 13. Their season average also increased to 197.064, marking the team’s highest average since the fourth week of the season.
Auburn will be hosting Missouri on Friday, Feb. 23 in Neville Arena. The meet will begin at 6 p.m. CST and will be televised on SEC Network.
Do you like this story? The Plainsman doesn't accept money from tuition or student fees, and we don't charge a subscription fee. But you can donate to support The Plainsman.
Madelyn Marsh is a freshman from Castroville, Texas, who is majoring in journalism. She joined The Plainsman in fall 2023.
