Alabama Gymnastics Suffers First Loss of Season at Georgia, 197.275-197.000

No. 6 Alabama gymnastics was handed its first loss of the 2021 all-SEC season on Friday night, losing at No. 13 Georgia by a margin of 197.275-197.000.

The Crimson Tide now moves to a 4-1 record with just three meets left in the regular season. Despite the loss, the 197.000 mark for Alabama is its best result of the season thus far.

“Before the meet, I asked the ladies to maintain faith and confidence regardless of what happened, and I saw just that in their eyes tonight," Alabama coach Dana Duckworth said. "They controlled what they could control, and they never stopped fighting. We started strong on the uneven bars and then after some mistakes on vault and floor, we came back and finished strong on the balance beam. We have to recognize that to score a 197.000 on the road and keep the meet tight throughout despite the mistakes we had is a step forward for this team."

After the first rotation that saw the Crimson Tide on the uneven parallel bars and the GymDogs on the vault, Alabama maintained a narrow 49.375-49.250 lead. A trio of Alabama gymnasts managed scores of 9.900 in freshman Shania Adams and sophomores Luisa Blanco and Makarri Doggette.

In the second rotation, Alabama moved to the vault while Georgia took its turn on the bars. Senior Lexi Graber earned the best score of the night on the vault, bringing in a score of 9.900. However, the GymDogs took charge on the bars, tying the Crimson Tide in the event with a score of 49.375.

After two rotations, Georgia took a 98.525-98.625 lead over Alabama.

For the third rotation, the Crimson Tide shifted to the floor while the GymDogs moved to the balance beam. Graber took home the event's highest score on the floor with an impressive 9.925. However, once again Georgia was able to put together a solid performance, and after three rotations still held a 147.975-147.650 lead.

In the final rotation, the Crimson Tide finished up the night on the balance beam with GymDogs taking the floor. Alabama's Blanco finished with the best performance of the night on the beam with a score of 9.950. However, the great performance was not enough for the Crimson Tide to make up the gap.

At the end of the night, Alabama lost its first meet of the season to Georgia 197.275-197.000.

Both Blanco and Adams competed in the all-around, with Blanco putting together a solid 39.625 through all four events.

In vault, Blanco had her weakest score of the night, tallying a 9.875. However, in her other three events, Blanco earned a 9.900 on the uneven parallel bars, her 9.950 on the balance beam along with a 9.900 on the floor exercise.

Senior Lexi Graber also had a solid night, bringing in the highest scores of the night on both the vault and the uneven parallel bars. On the vault, Graber tallied a 9.900 while achieving a 9.925 on the floor.

"I’m very proud of Lexi for coming back tonight and scoring 9.9-or-better on all three of her routines and I can’t say enough about Luisa’s performance tonight, winning the all-around and balance beam and posting career-best scores throughout," Duckworth said. "I believe in this team and the way we are building and improving mental fortitude week after week.”

Up next, the Crimson Tide will travel to Baton Rouge, La. next Friday to take on the LSU Tigers (7:30 p.m. CT, ESPN2).