Despite a solid performance by the Gym Dogs in their first meet following Courtney Kupets's season-ending injury, Suzanne Yoculan's squad fell on the road to fourth-ranked Michigan.
Georgia's strong start in the first rotation included 9.85s from Courtney McCool and Marcia Newby, 9.875s from Katie Heenan and Grace Taylor, and a 9.9 from Tiffany Tolnay on the bars for a combined score of 49.35. This impressive mark, though, was insufficient to overcome the 49.475 earned by the Wolverines, who posted three 9.875s, a 9.9 from Kylie Botterman, and a 9.95 from Sarah Curtis in the vault.
Lauren Sessler's fall on her landing in the vault during the second rotation damaged the Red and Black's chances, as Heenan's and Cassidy McComb's 9.9s were only able to give the visitors a 49.175 tally to offset the Maize and Blue's 49.325 on the bars, anchored by Trish Wilson's 9.925.
No Georgia gymnast earned above a 9.85 in the floor exercise in the third rotation, whereas three Michigan competitors earned marks of 9.9 or better on the balance beam. Consequently, the host squad outscored the opposition during the penultimate stanza by a 49.35-49.1 margin.
McCool and Taylor received 9.9s on the beam during the fourth rotation, earning the Gym Dogs a cumulative 49.325, but 9.9s by Curtis, Nellie Kippley, and Katie Lieberman on the floor gave the Wolverines the 49.45 that secured their 197.6-196.95 victory.
Great. Now we're going to have to put up with all manner of trash talk from Big Ten country in the wake of this deflating loss by the injury-hampered yet top-ranked Georgia gymnastics team on the road.
Go 'Dawgs!