University of Georgia Athletics
Gym Dogs To Face Florida On Saturday
February 09, 2011 | Gymnastics
Feb. 9, 2011
Complete Release in PDF Format 
ATHENS-----After spending the last two weeks on the road, No. 4 Georgia (6-2, 2-1 SEC) returns home to face No. 1 Florida (6-0, 3-0 SEC) Saturday at 4 p.m. at Stegeman Coliseum. The meet will be televised on a tape-delayed basis by ESPNU and will air Feb. 17 at 7:00 p.m. and again Feb. 20 at 11:30 a.m.
The Gym Dogs are coming off their first conference loss of the season, falling at Arkansas last Friday 195.775-195.400. Florida defeated Alabama last week 197.550-195.450. The Gators are the only unbeaten team in the SEC, and have reached the 197.500 plateau twice this season.
RANKINGS
The Georgia gymnastics team remained at No. 4 with a 195.950 average in the latest edition of the GymInfo Top 25. The Gym Dogs (6-2, 2-1 SEC) also remained No. 2 on the balance beam with a 49.083 average after a season-high 49.300 at Arkansas last Friday. UGA is ranked sixth on bars (49.004), ninth on vault (48.988) and 13th on floor (48.875).
Individually for the Gym Dogs, Lindsey Cheek is first on bars (9.925), second in the all-around (39.550) and tied for 24th on vault (9.842). Gina Nuccio is third on bars (9.880), and Shayla Worley is tied for fourth on beam (9.855).
Florida is ranked No. 1 for the sixth straight week with a 197.035 average. The Gators are the nation's top team on vault (49.365), bars (49.235) and floor (49.365), and are third on beam (49.070).
GEORGIA VS. NO. 1
Incidentally, the last time Georgia faced a No. 1 ranked team was at Florida on Jan. 18, 2008, when Gym Dogs escaped with a narrow 196.850-196.825 win. The last time Georgia faced a No. 1 team at home was Jan. 27, 2007, when it tied Florida with a 197.250. Following that meet, UGA won 23 straight home meets until the loss to Utah on Jan. 15.
The last time Georgia was in a dual meet that involved a No. 1 team was the season opener last year when top-ranked UGA defeated Stanford in Stegeman Coliseum.
QUICK HITS
Lindsey Cheek's 39.550 in the all-around against Auburn is tied for the third highest all-around score in the SEC this season. It is the only meet she has competed in the all-around this year. Cassidy McComb's 39.525 against West Virginia is fifth • Hilary Mauro and Lindsey Cheek both posted a 9.95 on vault against Auburn to tie three other gymnasts for the highest vault score in the league. • Eight of the top bars scores in the SEC have been posted by Georgia gymnasts including Kat Ding (T-1st, 9.95), Gina Nuccio and Lindsey Cheek (T-3rd, 9.925) and Cassidy McComb (T-8th, 9.9). • Cassidy McComb's 9.95 on floor vs. Auburn is tied for the second highest mark in the SEC, while her 9.9 on beam vs. West Virginia is tied for fourth. • Through six meets this season, a Georgia gymnast has posted the high score on 21 of 24 events. The only events Georgia did not at least tie for first were vault against Utah and vault and floor at Kentucky. • Senior Cassidy McComb has won at least one individual title in each meet this season, and has 10 total. Last year, she claimed one individual title all season.
THE GEORGIA-FLORIDA SERIES
This will mark the 116th meeting between Georgia and Florida with the Gym Dogs holding an 84-30-1 advantage since records kept in 1980. Florida edged Georgia last year in Gainesville, 197.250-197.150 and again in the SEC Championship meet as the Gators finished first and the Gym Dogs finished third. In the two teams' last meeting in Athens in 2009, Georgia tallied its highest point total of the season in a 198.200-196.650 win.
LAST TIME OUT
Despite winning individual titles on all four events, No. 4 Georgia fell to 11th-ranked Arkansas 195.775-195.400 last Friday at Barnhill Arena. The Razorbacks posted their highest overall score of the season to pick up the program's first win over Georgia. Despite the loss, Noel Couch (vault), Cassidy McComb (bars and beam), Christa Tanella (beam) and Shayla Worley (beam and floor) all won individual titles for the Gym Dogs. Arkansas' Jaime Pisani won the all-around with a 39.375. Georgia's best event was on the balance beam, where it posted a 49.3, the Gym Dogs' highest beam score of the season and the highest road score on any event. The first five gymnasts all tied season-highs led by a 9.875 by Worley. Arkansas also closed out the meet with its highest event score, a 49.125 on floor.
LAST TIME VS. FLORIDA - FEB. 19, 2010
Despite posting its second-highest score of the season, seventh-ranked Georgia fell to No. 4 Florida, 197.250-197.150, Friday at the O'Connell Center. The Gym Dogs' 197.150 is the sixth-highest total score by any team this season. Georgia has two of the nation's six highest scores this year including a 197.200 against Kentucky on Feb. 5. The Gym Dogs (3-4, 2-3 SEC) trailed by just a tenth of a point entering the final rotation, but Florida (5-2, 4-1) sealed the win with a 49.450 on floor and snapped a nine-dual meet regular season losing streak to Georgia in Gainesville dating back to 1990.
ON DECK
The Gym Dogs will return to the road as they travel to LSU on Feb. 18. Then a home meet against Alabama on Feb. 25 precedes the final road trip of the regular season at defending national champion UCLA on March 6.
