The Gymdogs congratulate Vivi Babalis on her performance in the balance beam event during an NCAA gymnastics meet between Stanford University and the University of Georgia at Stegeman Coliseum on Monday, Jan. 18, 2016, in Athens, Ga. (Photo by David Barnes)
It’s a battle between two top 15 gymnastics teams as the No. 10 Georgia Gymdogs take on the 15th ranked Missouri Tigers on the road in Columbia, MO for a Friday night showdown in the Mizzou Arena. The meet will get under way at 8 PM and can be viewed on the SEC Network +.
The Gymdogs are 1-2 overall and 1-0 in the SEC, while Missouri is 2-1 and 0-1.
Georgia is coming off a 195.875-195.750 setback against Stanford on Monday at Stegeman Coliseum. The Gymdogs performed well on vault (nation¹s best 49.5), bars (49.35, fourth highest) and floor (49.3, sixth highest). Their undoing came on beam as they had four falls and had to count three of them. Even with that, there was encouraging data as the scores without the automatic half-point deduction would have been 9.775, 9.85 and 9.875.
“I know they’e going to respond with great determination to carry the momentum that we built in certain parts of our performance,” Georgia head coach Danna Durante said. “We¹ll take the challenge that the other part of the performance (on beam) gave us and really learn from it and take the next step forward.”
Senior Brandie Jay enters Friday’s meet with the nation’s top effort on vault at 9.975 and she has the second-highest average at 9.908. Fellow senior Brittany Rogers is averaging 9.9 on bars (third best in the country) with a high of 9.925.
This is the 13th meeting — and the fourth dual meet — between Georgia and Missouri. The Gymdogs won the dual in Athens last year and then Georgia was fifth and Missouri was seventh at the 2015 SECs.
Said Durante, “I think a lot of that staff. I know they¹re about doing things the right way and building from the ground up, and I think they’re making the necessary changes. It takes time. I think they’re willing to do the work, they’re phenomenal coaches, and I know they care about their athletes. I think it’s exciting to see the jumps that they¹re making and the progress that they’re making, and I don’t think there’s a limit to what they can do. … From my time at Nebraska, and even when Georgia was there two years ago, I’ve always loved competing in Missouri. I think it’s an awesome environment. I just love it. I love the way it¹s set up, and it’s a great place to compete.”
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