COLUMBIA, Mo. – The No. 23 Mizzou gymnastics concluded the home portion of its schedule with a 196.575-196.100 win over No. 15 Georgia on Friday night at the Hearnes Center. The Tigers scored 49.0 or higher on all four events, including a 49.375 on beam that tied the fourth-highest event total in program history.
The win marked Mizzou's third-ever victory over Georgia, and the second since the Tigers joined the Southeastern Conference in 2013.
Sophomore Sienna Schreiber (Cumming, Ga.) won the all-around crown with a 39.425 and tied sophomore Holly Patrick (Lafayette, Colo.) for the bars title with identical scores of 9.875. Schreiber leads the team with seven titles on the season, while Patrick's win marked the first of her Tiger career.
KEY PERFORMANCES
Mizzou trailed Georgia 147.550-147.400 heading into the final rotation, but scored 49.175 on floor to Georgia's 48.550 on beam to claim the victory. The Tigers had three scores of 9.875 or higher on floor, including a team-best 9.9 from junior Hannah McCrary (Murfreesboro, Tenn.). Senior Gabrielle Gottula (Spring, Texas) and junior Alisa Sheremeta (Circileville, N.Y.) both had 9.875s, and Schreiber added a 9.825 in the leadoff spot.
The Tigers erupted for a 49.375 on beam in the third rotation to tie the fourth-best score on the event in team history only one week after notching the third-best. The 49.375 also marked the third-straight week Mizzou went at least a 49.250 on the apparatus after not scoring better than 48.825 in the first five meets of the season.
All six Tigers scored at least 9.85 on beam, led by a 9.9 from Schreiber, her third tally of 9.9 or better this season. Sheremeta, Gottula and freshman Sydney Schaffer (Andover, Kan.) all went 9.875, which was a career-best for Schaffer, and McCrary and freshman Amaya Marshall (Kannapolis, N.C.) both went 9.850.
Mizzou opened the meet with a 49.0 on vault. Gottula paced the squad with a 9.85, Schreiber went 9.825, Patrick went 9.8 and Marshall added a 9.775.
Patrick and Schreiber's winning 9.875s helped the Tigers go 49.025 as a team on bars in the second rotation. Marshall claimed a 9.8 and Sheremeta went 9.775.
QUOTABLES
Mizzou Head Coach Shannon Welker
"I was pleased with our performance tonight, I thought it was one of our grittiest performances of the year. We were missing Jena (Swanson), who has been a mainstay in three of our events, and I thought we did a really nice job replacing those routines and stepping up. Ever since the bye week we really hit the reset button. I think it's obvious in the confidence we're showing on the floor and the fun we're having. Everyone is enjoying it and they're trusting in their teammates, so it's been great. We've gotten a couple of wins in the SEC over the last few weeks and some nice scores that will help us with the rankings. All those things are confidence boosters. I'm really proud of the effort lately."
UP NEXT
Mizzou closes out the regular season on Friday, March 5 when the team travels to Baton Rouge, La., to face No. 2 LSU at 7:30 p.m.
MIZZOU EVENT WINNERS
Bars – Hollyn Patrick, Sienna Schreiber (9.875)
All-Around – Sienna Schreiber (39.425)
