The LSU Tigers hit the road and traveled to Alabama to take on the No. 14 Auburn Tigers for their final meet of the regular season.
As they always do in road meets, LSU started the night on the uneven bars while Auburn started on vault. True freshman Lexi Zeiss has held onto her leadoff spot all season long, and set the pace tonight with a 9.850.
After Zeiss, the Tigers went on a run of amazing bar routines. LSU's bar specialist, Ashley Cowan, went second and earned a 9.900 before Aleah Finnegan's 9.950. Then, freshman phenom, Kailin Chio, went fourth and posted another massive score of 9.900.
Konnor McClain went next and put together a routine worthy of a 9.900+, but a slight hop on her landing earned her a 9.875. Finally, Haleigh Bryant anchored the rotation and put together what I and one judge thought was a flawless routine, but one judge gave her a 9.950 and she earned a 9.975 to give LSU a 49.600 in the first rotation.
Senior Alyona Schennikova took part in a exhibition routine as she works back from a torn achilles, and in her first bar routine in competition in two years, she posted a 9.850.
KJ Johnson led off the vault rotation and earned a 9.875, which I feel is almost always underscored by the judges, but it is what it is. LSU's bar leadoff, Lexi Zeiss, got her fourth start of the season on vault and blew her career-high of 9.850 out of the water with a 9.900. Aleah Finnegan matched Zeiss's 9.900 in the three spot, which brought Amari Drayton to the vault. She had a little hop forward on her landing and earned a 9.800.
Kailin Chio went fifth for the Tigers on vault. The freshman has been flirting with a perfect 10 all season long, scoring 11 9.950s or better (five of which came on vault), and she finally got over the hump, earning her first 10 of her LSU career.
Haleigh Bryant was tasked with following Chio's 10 to finish out the rotation, and the senior did what she always does: delivers. She anchored with a 9.900 to give LSU a 49.575 on vault.
At the halfway point, LSU led Auburn, 99.175-98.825. Auburn was having a fantastic meet, this Tigers team is just different right now.
Sophomore Kylie Coen got her third consecutive nod on floor after scoring a 9.875 and 9.900 her first two times on the event, and this time around, it was another 9.875. Sierra Ballard went next and matched Coen's 9.875.
Kailin Chio and Amari Drayton went third and fourth, earning matching 9.925s which led to Aleah Finnegan's routine. The senior has struggled on floor this season, stepping out of bounds multiple times, but put up a massive score of 9.975 tonight, which tied her season-high.
Haleigh Bryant anchored the floor rotation and earned LSU's fourth straight score of 9.900 or better. She ended the rotation with a 9.950, giving the Tigers a 49.650 on floor.
Finally, the Tigers took a massive lead to the balance beam. They led by nearly a full point and were looking for one last solid rotation to get another big road score and boost their NQS average.
For the final time in the regular season, Sierra Ballard led off on the balance beam for the Tigers. She had a balance check on her landing and earned a 9.825 to kick things off.
Kylie Coen got her fourth start on floor, but she's been a main stay in LSU's beam lineup for most of the season, but she didn't have her best stuff and earned a 9.725. Chio also had an uncharacteristic performance on beam, earning a 9.825 in the three spot. You know you're good when a 9.825 is considered a bad day at the office.
Thankfully, things started to turnaround when Konnor McClain cracked into the 9.9s with a 9.900. Then, as we've come to expect, Haleigh Bryant and Aleah Finnegan put together a couple of solid routines and ended the night with a 9.950 and 9.875 respectively.
Amari Drayton got the start on the balance beam in the first meet of the season, but after earning a 9.675, she was pulled and has competed since. However, she got to do an exhibition in the final regular season meet of the season and earned a 9.825.
LSU easily took care of business against Auburn, winning by a score of 198.200-197.550. They got another big road score to boost their NQS and will head into the SEC Tournament on a seven-meet win streak.
