Georgia Bulldogs Football Forum Message Board and Blog > Sports > Georgia Bulldog Sports - Other > No. 5 Gym Dogs Host LSU On Friday |
Georgia Bulldogs Football Forum Message Board and Blog > Sports > Georgia Bulldog Sports - Other > No. 5 Gym Dogs Host LSU On Friday |
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ATHENS, Ga. ----- The fifth-ranked Georgia gymnastics team (3-4, 2-3) returns home to host two straight meets in Stegeman Coliseum. First up, the Gym Dogs welcome 10th-ranked LSU to Athens this Fri., Feb. 26 at 7:30 p.m. The following weekend, No. 3 UCLA will visit. The Gym Dogs had won two straight meets vs. Kentucky and Arkansas before dropping last weekend’s contest at Florida by just one-tenth of a point, 197.250-197.150. The 2010 Georgia squad is coming off a fifth-straight NCAA title in 2009 and returned nine letterwinners including All-Americans Kat Ding, Hilary Mauro, Cassidy McComb, Courtney McCool, Marcia Newby, and Grace Taylor. Friday’s meet will be aired on a tape-delayed basis on March 7 at 3 p.m. on ESPN2. GXtra will also provide both video coverage and live audio of the meet on http://www.georgiadogs.com. “We’re riding a wave of momentum right now,” said head coach Jay Clark. “We’ve had three straight successful meets where you could argue that over the last three weeks we are the hottest team in America. We’ve averaged a little over a 197 so we have some momentum going. The trick is to continue to ride that momentum and focus on the things we can control. We can’t let the momentum go by the wayside. While we are a team that can win a championship, we aren’t there yet. We haven’t executed a meet to the level that we need to execute in order to put ourselves legitimately at the top of that conversation.” Rankings The Georgia gymnastics team continued its climb in the national rankings, moving up two spots to No. 5 in the latest edition of the GymInfo Top 25 released Monday. It is Georgia’s highest ranking since being ranked No. 1 in the preseason. Oklahoma took over the No. 1 spot with a 196.615 RQS followed by Alabama (196.595), UCLA (196.365), Florida (196.285), Georgia (196.205), Stanford (196.170), Oregon State (196.150), Arkansas (196.050), Utah (195.995) and LSU (195.745) to round out the top-10. Georgia has posted its highest three scores in the last three weeks including a 197.150 last Friday at Florida. It is the highest score by any team on the road this season. The Gym Dogs have two of the nation’s eight highest scores including a 197.200 against Kentucky on Feb. 5. Individually, Georgia has four gymnasts ranked in the top-20 in three events: Courtney McCool is ranked first nationally on floor (9.915) and 13th on beam (9.835), Grace Taylor is tied for second on beam (9.895), Kat Ding is sixth on bars (9.875) and Gina Nuccio is tied for 18th on bars (9.830). In the team ranks, Georgia is second in the nation on uneven bars and beam, 13th on vault, and 14th on floor. The team and individual rankings are based on the Regional Qualifying Score (RQS), which is an average of the six best regular-season-meet scores, of which three must be away. To obtain the regional qualifying score (RQS), the high score is eliminated and the remaining five scores are averaged. Series History This weekend will mark the 79th all-time meeting between the SEC rivals. Georgia holds a mark of 61-15-2 against the Tigers. LSU is one of only five teams with double-digit victories vs. UGA. In 2009 Georgia defeated LSU by a score of 196.850-195.950 in Baton Rouge, before earning another win over the Tigers at the NCAA Championships, where UGA came away with the title and LSU finished sixth. Event Domination The Gym Dogs have seen plenty of success on the individual events so far this season, with sophomore Kat Ding winning six of seven bars titles, senior Courtney McCool winning five of six floor titles, and senior Grace Taylor winning four of seven beam titles through Georgia’s first six meets of 2010. McCool’s 9.975 on beam vs. Florida is tied for the highest score in the country so far in 2010 with UCLA’s Vanessa Zamarripa. Last Time Out Despite posting its second-highest score of the season, seventh-ranked Georgia fell to No. 4 Florida, 197.250-197.150, last Friday at the O’Connell Center. The Gym Dogs’ 197.150 is the sixth-highest total score by any team this season. Georgia has two of the nation’s six highest scores this year including a 197.200 against Kentucky on Feb. 5. The 197.150 is Georgia’s highest score at an SEC road meet since 2007 and the second highest in the last six years. The Gym Dogs trailed by just a tenth of a point entering the final rotation, but Florida (5-2, 4-1) sealed the win with a 49.450 on floor and snapped a nine-dual meet regular season losing streak to Georgia in Gainesville dating back to 1990. Highest Road Score In Three Years Georgia’s 197.150 at Florida on Feb. 19 was the highest score by an SEC road team in a conference meet since 2007, and it is the sixth-highest score in the last five years: The top five include: 197.425 (Georgia at LSU in 2007), 197.375 (Alabama at Auburn in 2007), 197.275 (Florida at Arkansas in 2007), 197.250 (Florida at Georgia in 2007) and 197.200 (Florida at LSU in 2007). A Look At The Tigers No. 10 LSU is coming off a rare tie in their last outing, as they were knotted with Arkansas at 196.200 Friday at Barnhill Arena in Fayetteville, Ark. It marked the first tie for LSU since 2000 when the Tigers tied Georgia for second place at the SEC Championship with a 196.825. LSU has wins this season over Auburn, Alabama, Maryland, Texas Woman’s, and Arizona State, while falling to Florida, Missouri, and Kentucky. Only the Florida meet was a dual meet loss for the Tigers, as their other two setbacks came in the Lady Luck Invite in Las Vegas. The Tigers started the season ranked sixth in the polls but have not gotten higher than 10th since then. LSU returned four All-Americans from the 2009 Super Six squad in seniors Sabrina Franceschelli, Summer Hubbard, Susan Jackson, and Kayla Rogers as part of eight returning letterwinners in addition to five freshmen. Head coach D-D Breaux is in her 33rd season at the helm for the Tigers, and has led LSU to back-to-back Super Six trips in 2008 and 2009 and a total of 21 NCAA Championship appearances, 11 NCAA Regional titles and one SEC title. Top-10 Opponents Georgia again faces one of the toughest schedules in the nation, as it has already faced five teams ranked in the top-10 with two more opponents remaining currently ranked in the top-10 including No. 3 UCLA next week. All of Georgia’s remaining opponents are ranked in the top 25. National Attendance Leader Georgia leads the country this year in average attendance - both home and away. The attendance for all seven of the Gym Dogs’ meets totals 74,171 for an average of 10,596 per meet. That is more than 1,000 fans ahead of second-place Alabama’s average of 9,524 per meet. Utah is third with 7,466. The Gym Dogs also lead the country with 95.87 percent capacity in its three home meets so far. Alabama is second at 91.65 percent followed by Utah at 91.35 percent. Three of Georgia’s meets have attracted more than 10,000 fans: 10,224 in the home opener against Stanford; 14,220 at Alabama on Jan. 15; and a NCAA gymnastics record 15,552 at Utah on Jan. 22. Stegeman Coliseum The Gym Dogs have maintained an overall record of 267-19-1 overall while competing inside Stegeman Coliseum in Athens. That includes a regular-season ledger of 185-10-1 and a mark of 82-9-0 in the postseason. Overall, the Georgia gymnastics team boasts an overall record of 880-146-6 (.852) in program history. Gym Dogs On TV The 2010 season will see 10 of Georgia’s 11 regular-season meets shown on television on a tape-delayed basis, including three to be nationally televised. The Stanford and Utah meets aired on CSS and the Alabama meet was shown on ESPN2. The Auburn meet aired on CSS, and meets against Kentucky and Arkansas were shown on FSN on Feb. 13 at 9 p.m., and Feb. 20 at 9 p.m., respectively, before two consecutive meets will air nationally on the ESPN channels. The Florida meet will be shown on Feb. 25 at 9 p.m. on ESPNU while the LSU contest will air March 7 at 3 p.m. on ESPN2. UCLA (March 11, 7 p.m.) and N.C. State (March 18, 7 p.m.) will both air on CSS to close the regular season for the Gym Dogs. Including this season, 65 of the Gym Dogs’ 88 regular-season meets over the last eight years will have been televised. Winning Streak At Stegeman The Gym Dogs are unbeaten at home in their last 31 regular season dual meets dating back to the 2005 season. Following a loss to Alabama on Feb. 18, 2005, Georgia won its next 10 dual meets in Stegeman Coliseum until tying top-ranked Florida on Jan. 27, 2007. Since then, the Gym Dogs have won 20 straight meets at home. Stegeman To Undergo Makeover Earlier this month, the UGA Athletic Board voted to expand and renovate the concourse at Stegeman Coliseum. Additional space will be created for more restrooms and concession stands, and the project also includes a glass facade. The project is expected to be completed by the start of the 2011 gymnastics season. On Deck The Gym Dogs remain at home to host UCLA next Sat., March 6 at 4 p.m. at Stegeman Coliseum. That meet will be aired on CSS on March 11 at 7 p.m. The following weekend, Georgia travels for its final regular-season road meet of the season, heading to Michigan on March 12 for a 7 p.m. contest.
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| Georgia Bulldogs Football Forum Message Board and Blog > Sports > Georgia Bulldog Sports - Other > No. 5 Gym Dogs Host LSU On Friday | |
