Suni Lee matches career high on vault as Auburn gymnastics tops Georgia in Neville Arena
AUBURN — Auburn gymnastics coach Jeff Graba gave a few of his stars some rest in a meet against Missouri on Sunday. Most notably, Suni Lee and Cassie Stevens weren't participants in the all-around.
Back in full force five days later against Georgia on Friday, Lee got things started with a bang. She matched her career-high mark on vault in the first rotation with a 9.95, helping Auburn jump out to an early .425 lead. The Tigers maintained their advantage throughout, topping the Bulldogs, 197.55-196.075, in Neville Arena.
Lee, the 2020 Olympic all-around champion, added a 9.95 on bars, a 9.85 on beam and a 9.725 on floor to win the all-around title with a 39.475. One judge awarded her with a 10 for her performance on bars, but the other deducted a tenth of a point, which the Auburn faithful wasn't too pleased with.
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"(We) came in trying to focus on us a little bit more," Graba said. "Try to get in our bubble. And even though this environment is fantastic and you don't actually have to motivate too much, we have been prone to getting distracted at times. I thought they did a better job tonight, so that was good to see.
"And we put some people into positions where we think we might be using them in the postseason. Most of that was pretty successful, so pretty happy night."
Derrian Gobourne matched Lee's 9.95 on bars and registered a 9.9 on vault before finishing the meet with a 9.95 on floor. On beam, it was Gabby McLaughlin leading the way with a 9.9.
Auburn's overall score of 197.55 is its third best of the season. It replaces the 197.175 the Tigers notched against North Carolina State on Jan. 27 in the calculation of their National Qualifying Score. Auburn's NQS is now 197.46.
"We're ready for the postseason. I think we're ready. ... (The team's) mindset right now is − I feel like they think they can handle anything," Graba said. "I've just got to back them down. Everybody is trying to go 150 miles an hour right now. We'll go to Kentucky next week and have another record crowd and they'll want to beat us and if they beat us it'll be on the front page.
"That's just the way it is. I love it. No better way to prepare for the postseason than this way."
Up next
The Tigers go on the road to take on Kentucky on Friday (6 p.m. CT). After that, they'll wrap up the regular season with a meet against Penn State at home on March 10.
Richard Silva is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at rsilva@gannett.com or on Twitter @rich_silva18.
This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Auburn gymnastics: Suni Lee notches 9.95 on vault as Tigers top Georgia
