The Ladies’ season was not ready to begin but a call from LSU due to a cancellation from West Virginia pushed the first meet of the season up. The opportunity gave the Ladies a chance to show off on a national stage with the meet being televised on ESPN. To have the opening meeting against the No. 5 team in the NCAA, the D3 school gave an impressive showing. The Ladies are no slouch team finishing fifth in nationals last year and boast a national champion returning in Taylor Ann Wilson.
LSU began the competition on vault as Centenary started with bars. Last year’s vault national champion, Haleigh Bryant, boasted the highest score with a 9.925. The Lady Tigers racked up 49.400 on the vault competition. Centenary’s top on the bars was Wilson who scored a 9.700. Other Ladies who contributed to the score were Kendall Sanders (9.350), Chloe Armentor (9.025), Emma Lavelle (9.000), and Rose Deshler (8.975). LSU had a 49.500 – 46.050 after the first round of events.
LSU switched to the bars for the second event and Centenary switched to the vault. LSU scored their highest points with a 49.500 overall in the event. Alyona Shchennikova received high marks for the Lady Tigers with a 9.950. Centenary had only five for the vault so every attempt went towards the score. Kendall Sanders placed the top score with a 9.800 for the Ladies. Other scorers for the Ladies were Kendall Huff (9.700), Leilani Johnson (9.525), Lavelle (9.425), and Lacey Wedge with an (8.900). LSU led by 98.900-93.400.
The third event for the Ladies was the floor exercises. Kendall Huff took top honors for the Ladies with a 9.525. Other adding to the event score were Lacey Edge (9.275), Emma Lavelle (9.050), Carissa Martinez (8.975), and Kendall Sanders (8.950). The Lady Tigers took to the beam for the third round. Once again, Haleigh Bryant scored highest for the Lady Tigers with 9.875. LSU widened their lead to 7.900 after three events.
The Ladies finished strong with their final event on the beam. Their highest team score of the day a 47.375 was achieved. Kendall Sanders took the top score in her second event with a 9.650. Other scorers for the Ladies were Carissa Martinez (9.600), Rose Deshler (9.550), Emma Lavelle (9.475), and Rylie Molina (9.100). LSU took the floor competition for their final event. KJ Johnson grabbed a second 9.900 for the competition. This time it was the top score for the Lady Tigers.
Alyona Shchennikova took the top all-around score with a 39.300 for the Lady Tigers. She won the bars competition with a 9.950 And finished with 9.825 on vault, 9.800 on beam, and a 9.725 on floor.
Centenary had two with all-around scores as Kendall Sanders finished with 37.750 and Emma Lavelle with 36.950.
LSU finished with a 196.950 to Centenary’s 186.550.
The Ladies were supposed to take on SE Missouri on Friday but the meet was canceled. They will now have to wait for their first home meet against Air Force on January 23 at the Gold Dome.
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