ATHENS, Ga. – The No. 16 Mizzou gymnastics team opened the 2021 season with a 196.150-194.250 loss to No. 10 Georgia Friday night in Athens, Ga. Sophomore Sienna Schreiber (Cumming, Ga.) claimed the beam title with a career-best 9.9.

Five different Tigers made their collegiate debuts in the meet, as the newcomers provided 10 of Mizzou's 22 routines in the meet.

KEY PERFORMANCES

Mizzou started the meet with a strong 49.025 on bars thanks to four scores of 9.8 or higher. Senior Chelsey Christensen (Rapid City, S.D.) and sophomore Macy Orosco (Arlington, Texas) both tallied career-bests with 9.85 to lead the squad.  Sophomore Hollyn Patrick (Lafayette, Colo.) and freshman Amaya Marshall (Kannapolis, N.C.) also had career-bests with identical 9.8s, while sophomore Adalayna Hufendiek (Columbia, Mo.) went 9.725 and freshman Jena Swanson (Glendive, Mont.) added a 9.7.

A trio of 9.7s paced the Tigers in the second rotation on vault. Junior Hannah McCrary, Marshall and Swanson all posted the score as Missouri went 48.300 on the apparatus.

On floor in the third rotation, McCrary had a team-high 9.85 to lead the squad to a 48.825 on floor. Marshall also hit the 9.8 mark on the event, posting a 9.8, while Swanson went 9.775 and Schreiber had a 9.725.

In Mizzou's final routine of the night, Schreiber secured the beam title with a 9.9, besting her previous career-high 9.85. It marked Schreiber's third career title but her first on beam. Senior Gabrielle Gottula (Spring, Texas) added a 9.775 on the event, and McCrary went 9.725.

QUOTABLES

Mizzou Head Coach Shannon Welker
"We ended up counting a fall on beam but outside of that tonight was a good first step for the season. We knew we were going to be a little thin, with some people out with preseason injuries and missing another regular competitor tonight. We had a lot of new young ladies in there tonight. I was proud of their effort. You look at the score sheet and 50 percent of our routines were from new people today, that's a lot of new routines in the lineup. I think they did a really nice job. You have to get out there and get some experience in order to get better and I thought we did that today. We walked away healthy and we're ready to go for next week."

UP NEXT

The Tigers open the home portion of their schedule on Friday, Jan. 15 when the team hosts No. 6 Alabama at 7 p.m. CT at the Hearnes Center. The meet will be aired live on SEC Network +.

EVENT WINNERS

Beam – Sienna Schreiber (9.9)