No. 8 Alabama Gymnastics Faces No. 14 Kentucky in Lexington Friday Afternoon

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The No. 8-ranked Alabama gymnastics team faces off against No. 14 Kentucky Friday afternoon in the lone rematch of the Crimson Tide's regular season. The meet gets underway at 4 p.m. CT and will air live on ESPN2 with Olympians Bart Conner and Kathy Johnson Clarke calling the action.

The two teams opened the 2021 season in Tuscaloosa, Ala., on Jan. 8 with the Tide earning a 196.850-195.825 win. Alabama comes into the weekend sporting a 3-0 mark, while Kentucky is 2-1.

Head Coach Dana Duckworth Said

"We are looking forward to going on the road and competing again. We learned a lot on our first road trip and I think our ladies are hungry to compete. They are closer than ever, and as much as COVID mandates us to be social distanced, their hearts are closer than ever. Our goal is to continue to work on hitting routines under pressure and go 24-for-24 this weekend."

Last Meet

Alabama took home a win at home against then-No.17 Auburn, scoring 196.925 to the Tiger's 195.575 and sweeping all four individual events and the all-around
After a 48.350 the previous week, the Crimson Tide posted a 49.425 on the balance beam, its highest team score on the event since April 16, 2019
The Tide had five scores of 9.9-or-better against the Wildcats, including three on the balance beam - Alonza Klopfer (9.900), Makarri Doggette (9.900) and Luisa Blanco (9.925) – along with Lexi Graber on vault (9.900), Sania Mitchell on the floor exercise (9.900) beam
Five Crimson Tide gymnasts set or matched career-highs against the Tigers - Mati Waligora on the vault (9.875), Cam Machado on the uneven bars (9.875), Alonza Klopfer from the leadoff position on the balance beam (9.900) and Emily Gaskins (9.875) and Sania Mitchell on floor exercise (9.900)

Inside the Score Sheet

Makarri Doggette has never scored below a 9.875 on the uneven bars, scoring a 9.9-or-higher in six out of her ten career routines on the event
In her first beam routine this season, sophomore Luisa Blanco stepped up to win the event and clinch the meet for the Tide as the anchor at Missouri
Doggette has won the uneven bars in every meet so far this season, while Blanco has won balance beam in both meets she has competed the event
Shania Adams has competed in the all-around in every meet thus far for the Tide, with her performance in the season-opener marking the first time a Crimson Tide freshman has competed in all four events in their first meet since Katie Bailey in 2014
Alabama is fifth on the vault (49.192), ninth on the floor exercise (49.183), tenth on the balance beam (49.008) and 13th on the uneven bars (49.133) in this week's rankings
Individually, Lexi Graber is tied for fifth on the vault (9.900) and tenth on floor exercise (9.900), Shania Adams is tenth in the all-around (39.358), Makarri Doggette is tied for sixth on the uneven bars (9.900) and Mati Waligora is tied for 20th on the vault (9.867)

Up Next

After Friday's meet against Kentucky, Alabama has a bye week before returning to the road to face off against Georgia on Friday, Feb. 12 in Athens, Ga.
The meet will be broadcast live on SEC Network and will get underway at 5 p.m. CT

For all the latest information on Alabama gymnastics, follow @BamaGymnastics on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook and head coach Dana Duckworth on Instagram at @UACoachDana.