The Red and Black

Issue date: 2/4/08 Section: Sports

Media Credit: KRISTIN BOYD Courtney Kupets scored a 9.95 for her bars routine in the meet Friday against Alabama. Three Gym Dogs scored 9.9 or higher on the uneven bars. The Gym Dogs beat the Crimson Tide 196.625-196.000. [Click to enlarge]

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- While the No. 1 Gym Dogs team was far from dominant, the squad returned to the road and captured a comfortable 196.625-196.000 victory over No. 4 Alabama on Friday.

The two schools have combined to win 12 of the 26 NCAA gymnastics championships, and with a sellout crowd of 15,075, the second largest gymnastics crowd in Coleman Coliseum history, this meeting figured to be another historic chapter in the series.

The Gym Dogs (4-1, 3-0 SEC) were less than sentimental, jumping out to an insurmountable lead after the first rotation and never looking back.

Alabama (3-1, 2-1) started with their weakest event, the vault, with a season-low 48.90. Georgia put the pressure on right away, with Grace Taylor, Katie Heenan and Courtney Kupets recording consecutive scores of 9.9 or above on uneven bars after an opening fall from Nikki Childs.

Head coach Suzanne Yoculan also praised sophomore Abby Stack, who competed on bars for just the second time in her collegiate career and scored a 9.775.

"She got us back into the meet after Nikki's fall, and that's always hard," Yoculan said. "Bars has been our strongest and most consistent event this year, and you could really see the growth and the momentum that we had on bars tonight."

The theme of bouncing back with strong scores after a fall would pervade the rest of the evening for the Gym Dogs.

Georgia recorded a season-low 48.90 on vault, matching Alabama's score, but the team was able to avoid counting an opening 9.45 from Paige Burns thanks to five solid routines, including a season-high 9.95 from Kupets.

On floor exercise in the third rotation, it was Kupets who uncharacteristically fell and scored a 9.15.

Courtney McCool followed in the anchor position with a 9.95, which again prevented the Gym Dogs from having to count a fall.

"It's not disappointing, because it's just that time of year where things aren't consistent," Yoculan said of her team's score. "That's really about where a team should be. I was really pleased to see different people pick it up in different places."

Alabama, meanwhile, recorded just two scores of 9.9 or above the whole evening, leaving the Crimson Tide unable to climb out of their early deficit.

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