AUBURN, Ala. - The Auburn Tigers picked up a huge bounce-back win in Neville Arena against the 11th-ranked Georgia Bulldogs, 197.300 to 197.200. The meet went down to the wire, but an incredible fourth rotation on the floor pushed the Tigers ahead late.
This back-and-forth meet saw several Tigers get their moment to shine. Sara Hubbard and Sydney Schumaker scored 9.875 on the first rotation vault, and despite Georgia being a top-ten team in the vault, these two scores ensured a tight contest.
“We’ve been talking about for a long time on how deep we are,” said Coach Jeff Graba postgame. That depth played a major role throughout the course of this meet, as Graba tried several new lineups within the rotations as key gymnasts like Keko Jong were battling an ailment, as Jong was limited to strictly the beam and bars.
Alex Irvine was the next to step up, as a massive 9.950 on bars gave Auburn the lead.
“I was surprised because my warm-up was probably my worst warm-up that I've had at any of the meets,” said Irvine after the win. “I’m grateful for the opportunity to even go first and just start off our squad.” This 9.950 tops Irvine’s career-high on the uneven bars, as it was previously set at 9.900 in her freshman year at UCLA.
Georgia threw a strong punch retaking the lead in the third rotation despite Auburn being a top-six team on the beam. Although the Bulldogs are not consistently great on the floor, three different gymnasts scored a 9.9: Ady Wahl, Nyla Aquino and Nya Howard.
These scores surpassed the 9.9 achieved by both Sophia Groth and Paige Zancan on the beam, giving Georgia a slight edge as they entered the final rotation.
However, the fourth rotation on the floor would be where the Tigers truly had their moment.
Four Tigers would score at least a 9.9 in this rotation, with Sophia Bell achieving a 9.925 and senior Sophia Groth scoring the meet-sealing 9.950.
Groth, who rested last week due to an injury sustained on a landing, ended up being Auburn’s MVP.
“I have been working for a moment like this for my entire career,” said Groth, “You can have one fall and it be the end of your career… and so I really think the Lord gave that to me and said make the season what you want it to be”.
The ability to get a healthy lineup set to go along with the momentum the Tigers currently have will be monumental moving forward, as the SEC schedule does not look to get easier. Next week, Auburn travels to Gainesville to take on the second-ranked squad in the country, Florida. The first rotation from Exactech Arena will be at 7:30 p.m. CT on Friday, February 14th, and will be streamed on SEC+ Network.
