No. 10 Kentucky visiting PMAC to challenge No. 5 LSU gymnastics

LSU's Kiya Johnson is all smiles after her perfect 10 on beam earlier this season in a meet against Alabama. PHOTO BY: LSU gymnastics Twitter

The fifth-ranked LSU gymnastics team (8-2, 4-2 SEC) will take on No. 10 Kentucky (6-3, 3-3 SEC) in the Southeastern Conference regular season finale at 7:15 p.m. CT Friday inside the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.

There are a limited amount of general admission tickets still available at LSUtix.net. Doors to the arena will open at 5:45 p.m. for all fans. The first 500 students will receive an LSU gymnastics tank top and the first 500 fans through the upper entrances will receive an LSU gymnastics t-shirt.

The meet will be streamed live on SECNetwork+ through WatchESPN.com and the app.

“We are in March now and really gearing up for our postseason,” LSU gymnastics coach Jay Clark. “I know the team is excited to get back in the PMAC and compete a really strong Kentucky team. Competing in front of the home crowd will really them some extra juice for this SEC finale.”

When the LSU takes the floor, they’ll be looking to score a 197 or higher to drop the season opener score from its National Qualifying Score (NQS). With three meets left this season, the Tigers have a strong chance to finish in the top four and take a No. 1 seed going into NCAA postseason.

LSU owns top-five rankings on vault and bars and top-10 on beam and floor. The Tigers have season highs of 49.500 on vault, 49.500 on bars, 49.650 on beam and 49.775 on floor. The score of 49.775 against Auburn marked a school record.

Kiya Johnson and Haleigh Bryant, two of the top gymnasts in the country, are expected to compete in the all-around together for the second time this season. Both Johnson and Bryant own multiple perfect scores in 2022. Johnson owns a 10 on beam and floor and Bryant has scored two 10’s on vault. Johnson owns two 10’s on beam, one on vault and four on floor. She is the sixth gymnast in LSU history to score multiple perfect scores on beam. Bryant has scored all four of her career 10’s on vault.

LSU will be without star junior Kai Rivers, who suffered a shoulder injury against Alabama.

Junior Alyona Shchennikova is expected to return to the LSU lineup on bars and possibly floor after suffering a knee injury at Florida. Senior Bridget Dean is also expected to return to the beam lineup after missing the meet at TWU due to a family matter.

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