Gymdogs impress in home opener

From UGA Sports Communications

ATHENS, Ga. — The  16^th-ranked Georgia gymnastics team celebrated its home opener in style, sweeping event titles en route to a 196.875-194.800 victory over No. 25 North Carolina State on Monday afternoon at Stegeman Coliseum.

Sydney Snead took her fourth and fifth event titles of the year with a 9.95 on vault and a 39.4 in the all-around. Rachel Schick tied her career-best with a 9.9 on bars, highest on that event, and she posted a new career-best with a 9.925 on beam to take another title, boosting her season tally to three. Top score on floor went to freshman Sabrina Vega, who scored a career-high 9.925 in her first floor routine in front of the home fans.

“It felt really tremendous to compete at home,” said Georgia head coach Danna Durante. “I think it felt really good to build on what we did on Friday. To me, the true mark of a team is when adversity comes your way, are you going to get stronger or break apart? This team is stronger than before we went into LSU and I think that every meet is going to make them stronger. We are going to continue to just band together and build off each other and I think that’s a true mark of great team chemistry and love for each other. I think when those weaknesses were exposed, nobody loved it, but it certainly made us stronger and a tighter unit.”

Morgan Reynolds and Snead had career-best scores in the first rotation, scoring a 9.9 and 9.95 on vault, respectively. Two 9.8s from Rachel Dickson and Gigi Marino kept the momentum going, and Georgia owned a lead of 0.35 at 49.225-48.875 through one rotation.

A new career-high on bars for Schick, 9.925, paced Georgia in the second as the Gymdogs built their lead to 0.75 at the halfway point. The home team also got solid scores from Lauren Johnson (9.8) and Dickson (9.85) to take a 98.35-97.625 lead heading into the third.

Ashlyn Broussard and Schick each eclipsed the 9.9 plateau, with 9.9 and 9.925, respectively, in the event. The Gymdogs also debuted Hayley Sanders with her first routine on the balance beam, and she posted a 9.775 in a confident run, and Georgia totaled a 49.225 in the third rotation to take a 147.575-146.5 lead into the final event.

Georgia punctuated its victory with a 49.300 as a team on floor, its best floor score of the season. Vega went for a 9.925 and Snead scored a 9.9. The Gymdogs were solid top to bottom, with no one scoring less than a 9.825.

The Gymdogs are back in action on Friday as they host Arkansas at 7 p.m. for their annual blackout meet. For all the latest on Georgia gymnastics, follow the team on Twitter (@UGAGymnastics), Instagram (ugagymnastics), Facebook (Georgia Gymnastics) and on Snapchat (UGAGymdogs), and keep checking in to georgiadogs.com.

MEET RESULTS

Georgia – 196.875

NC State – 194.800

Vault – 49.225

Ashlyn Broussard – 9.775, Morgan Reynolds – 9.9, Rachel Dickson– 9.8, Lauren Johnson – 9.775, Gigi Marino – 9.8, Sydney Snead – 9.95

Bars – 49.125

Hayley Sanders – 9.775, Morgan Reynolds – 9.05, Lauren Johnson – 9.8, Rachel Dickson – 9.85, Rachel Schick – 9.925, Sydney Snead – 9.775

Beam – 49.225

Sabrina Vega – 9.85, Hayley Sanders – 9.775, Sydney Snead – 9.775, Ashlyn Broussard – 9.9, Vivi Babalis – 9.575, Rachel Schick – 9.925

Floor – 49.300

Morgan Reynolds – 9.825, Beth Roberts – 9.825, Vivi Babalis – 9.825, Sabrina Vega – 9.925, Sydney Snead – 9.900, Gigi Marino – 9.825

All-Around

Sydney Snead - 39.400