Florida traveled to Tuscaloosa, Ala., wanting to prove how well it could perform against a great opponent in front of a hostile crowd.
The Gators proved just that Friday night, putting together their second-highest team total of the season.
That effort, however, wasn’t enough to overcome No. 2 Alabama (6-1, 4-1 Southeastern Conference), as the Crimson Tide topped No. 6 Florida (4-2, 3-1 SEC) 197.425 – 196.6 in front of a Coleman Coliseum crowd of 12,466.
“It easily could’ve been a situation where they became mentally intimidated and maybe crumbled a little bit under that type of pressure with that many people in the stands, but that didn’t happen,” UF coach Rhonda Faehn said. “That’s a huge plus for the team, especially the younger gymnasts.”
For as well as the Gators performed Friday night — they executed cleanly on all 24 of their routines — they still had a few mistakes, and Alabama came away with team victories in each event.
“I think we had more difficult routines than Alabama, it’s just we weren’t perfect,” senior Maranda Smith said. “We didn’t stick all of our landings.”
Alabama got off to a great start in the first rotation, where it put together a 49.5 on vault. That performance gave the Tide a .575-point lead early on.
It wound up being a gap the Gators could not close throughout the meet, despite recording season highs on vault (49.425), where Ashanée Dickerson and Dali Lemezan posted 9.9s, and on beam (49.175), where Liz Green recorded a new collegiate-best 9.875.
Entering the final rotation, Florida trailed by .525 points.
After its first two routines on the beam — a 9.825 by Courtney Gladys and a 9.85 by Elizabeth Mahlich — it looked as though the Gators might close in on Alabama.
The Crimson Tide finished strong, though, registering a 9.925 by Geralen Stack-Eaton, a 9.875 by Ashley Priess and a meet-high 9.975 on floor by Morgan Dennis.
Those three Alabama gymnasts also recorded the top-three all-around scores of the night, with Stack-Eaton taking home the all-around title with a 39.625. Dickerson finished fifth with a 39.35.
“Alabama definitely stuck their landings,” Faehn said. “They performed extremely well. They’re a very good team.”
