After an impressive home opener last Friday, No. 5 Auburn Gymnastics returns to Neville Arena to face yet another top-25 squad in No. 25 NC State
A sold-out, energetic crowd watched Auburn score a collective 197.500 last Friday night against Arkansas, led by All-American Norah Flatley. Floor was Auburn’s strongest event in the contest, as they scored 49.500. [autotag]Olivia Hollingsworth[/autotag] and [autotag]Derrian Gobourne[/autotag] each recorded a 9.9, with Gobourne earning the highest overall score of 9.950. [autotag]Suni Lee[/autotag] took home the All-Around title with a 39.750.
Auburn head coach [autotag]Jeff Graba[/autotag] credits the home crowd for providing enough energy to help his squad earn the win.
“Great crowd, love the atmosphere, and we needed everything that we could get from them, and they gave it to us,” Graba said following last Friday’s meet. “It was a really tight, tough fight all the way through and I think it makes you better when you go through that. I’m really proud of the team.”
This Friday, the Tigers welcome NC State. The Wolfpack are new to the top 25 this week and average an overall score of 196.183. In three meets this season, three NC State gymnasts have reached event highs of 9.9 or higher, led by Chloe Negrete, who holds the team’s individual high scores on vault, beam, and floor.
Graba says that competing with nonconference teams such as NC State will only make his team better.
“NC State is going to come in here and are going to be really good,” Graba said. “We aren’t taking this Friday lightly. They are a team that has made some really good postseason runs and it is going to be a great test for us. We need to stay focused and just get better this Friday.”
Below, you will find all of the key information needed ahead of Friday’s meet between Auburn and NC State including a how-to-watch guide, gymnasts to watch, and an in-depth look at Auburn’s last meet against Arkansas.