The LSU Tigers Gymnastics squad was fresh off their upset victory over No. 1 Oklahoma in the PMAC last week and hit the road to face off with No. 9 Kentucky in Lexington.
The Tigers started the meet on the uneven bars, which has been arguably their worst event this year. However, their average of 49.330 ranks fourth in the country.
True freshman Lexi Zeiss led things off for the Tigers and tied her career-high with a 9.875, which Ashley Cowan then matched in the two spot. After Alexis Jeffrey earned a 9.825, true freshman Kailin Chio posted the Tigers' third 9.875 of the rotation.
Konnor McClain posted a 9.850 in the five spot before LSU's superstar Haleigh Bryant made her season debut on bars. She put together a very solid routine despite just starting practice on the event this week, earning a 9.875 to give LSU a 49.325 in the first rotation.
After bars, the Tigers moved to their best event: vault. The Tigers' 49.430 average is the highest of any team in the country on the event, but they struggled a bit today. At least to their standards.
KJ Johnson led the off the vault rotation, as she always does, but was only able to put a 9.725 on the scoreboard. Aleah Finnegan, who's been struggling a bit and was taken off the bars lineup, also didn't have her best stuff, scoring a 9.850.
After Kaliya Lincoln posted a 9.800 and Amari Drayton posted a 9.725, they needed a couple massive scores from Kailin Chio and Haleigh Bryant...and they delivered. Chio went first and put up a 9.925 before Bryant anchored with a 9.900, which gave LSU a team score of 49.200 on vault.
Heading into the third rotation, the meet was closer than Tiger fans expected it to be, but LSU was still in control.
Kaliya Lincoln held on to the leadoff spot on floor after taking it away from Sierra Ballard last week, and she posted a 9.875 to lead things off. Ballard stayed in the second spot and also posted a solid score of 9.825.
After Kailin Chio and Amari Drayton posted a 9.850 and 9.875 respectively, Aleah Finnegan came up in the fifth spot. Jay Clark talked in his Monday press conference about some technical things they've gone over with her because she's stepped out of bounds multiple times in recent weeks, but she still ended up stepping out and earned a 9.775.
Haleigh Bryant remained in her anchor spot on floor and wrapped things up with another massive score of 9.900 to give LSU a 49.325 on the event - .375 lower than their 49.700 they posted last week when they beat Oklahoma.
Heading into the final rotation, LSU led Kentucky by .200, but this meet was far from over. The Tigers were heading to the balance beam and the Wildcats were heading to the floor, so anything could happen.
Despite being moved out the leadoff spot on floor, Sierra Ballard stayed in that role on balance beam. She's been the Tigers' fire starter on the event for two years now, and she has consistently put up solid scores like she did tonight with a 9.850.
Kylie Coen didn't have her best stuff tonight, earning a 9.775, but Kailin Chio followed her up with a massive 9.925, which eventually led to her winning the all-around title. Konnor McClain and Haleigh Bryant then posted a 9.825 and 9.850 respectively, and it seemed like with LSU's .200 advantage heading into the rotation that this thing would be over, but Kentucky posted some huge scores on floor to keep this thing tight.
Aleah Finnegan, who has not had her best stuff in recent meets, just needed to stay on the beam to secure the Tigers' win. She was in the same position last year, in the national championship, just with much higher stakes, but once again she delivered with a 9.900.
LSU's 49.350 on beam was enough to fend off the Wildcats, who posted a 49.475 on floor. LSU ended up on top of the podium once again by a score of 197.200-197.075. Their 197.200 should boost their NQS average considerably as they can now drop their 196.600 from the Arkansas meet.
LSU's struggles on the road continued tonight, but they were able to do enough in the end to pull out the victory over the Wildcats.
