AUBURN, Ala. - After a dominant showing against the Arkansas Razorbacks in their home opener last Friday night, the No. 5 Auburn Tigers turn their attention to the No. 20 North Carolina State Wolfpack.
"We don't actually pay attention to who is coming in because everybody that we bring in is good," Auburn head coach Jeff Graba said. "N.C. State is coming in and they're ranked ahead of where Arkansas was last week. So take the rankings with a grain of salt, everybody is really good."
It was announced earlier this week that Auburn sophomore Sunisa Lee was named Southeastern Conference Gymnast of the week, along with Haleigh Bryant of LSU.
North Carolina State (2-2, 2-1 ACC) is coming into this meet after beating the Pitt Panthers (3-5, 0-2 ACC) 196.650-195.150.
Senior Chloe Negrete is the highest scorer for the Wolfpack on vault with a 9.900, beam with a 9.900, and floor with a 9.925. Senior Emily Shephard is their highest scorer on bars with a 9.875.
"We don't really pay much attention to who we're going against," said senior Cassie Stevens. "We just want to do our thing, focus on us, and be better than we were before.
The home crowd at Auburn gymnastics meets has been regarded as one of the most enthusiastic in all of collegiate gymnastics. The support is very meaningful to the Tigers team.
"It's everything to our girls," Graba said. "Just going back to recruiting, it's the reason they showed up here because they want to compete in front of that. We have opposing teams that want to come here because it makes them better."
"Definitely excited to be home again," said Stevens. "We love our fans in our home arena."
Beam has been one of the biggest question marks for this Auburn team so far this season.
"I feel like we're doing a good job but we know we aren't to our full potential yet, which is ok because it's still early in the season," Stevens said. "We're getting there, but we know we still have a lot left in the tank."
The meet is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. CT.
