No. 6 Florida Gymnastics at No. 2 Alabama Friday
Wednesday, February 10, 2010 | Gymnastics
A dual meet between two top-10 teams is set for Friday, Feb. 12 when the No. 6 University of Florida gymnastics team (4-1, 3-0 SEC) meets No. 2 Alabama (5-1, 3-1 SEC) in Tuscaloosa, Ala., for a Friday, Feb. 12 dual meet. Meet time is set for 8:30 p.m. ET in the Coleman Coliseum. This is the 25th consecutive time that both Florida and Alabama bring a top-10 ranking into a meeting.
Florida faces the top two teams in the 2009 NCAA Championships' Super Six team final in consecutive weekends. Alabama was runner-up in 2009 NCAA Championship competition and also claimed the 2009 Southeastern Conference team title. Next week, Florida plays host to five-time defending NCAA champion Georgia on Friday, Feb. 19.
Every opponent Florida has faced this season (including upcoming No. 2 Alabama) has been ranked in the top-25 and the Tide is the third UF opponent ranked in the top-10. Only Florida and Georgia will face every team in the 2009 NCAA Super Six during the course of the 2010 season. The Tide took second in the 2009 NCAA Super Six at 197.575 while Florida was fourth at 196.725.
Alabama owns a 59-30-1 all-time advantage over UF, but the last 10 wins registered by the Gators came under head coach Rhonda Faehn. Last season, UA took a 2-1 edge in the meetings between the two teams. Florida claimed a 196.875-195.625 win in Gainesville in dual meet competition. Alabama won the SEC Championships with a 197.30 while Florida was third (196.75). The final meeting came in the 2009 NCAA Super Six where Alabama was runner-up while Florida was fourth.
Last Friday, Florida won its dual meet at then No. 22 NC State 195.475-194.45. Gators won three of the event titles Friday. Freshman Ashan?e Dickerson shared both the vault and balance beam titles with Gator teammates. She shared her third vault win of the season with senior All-American Maranda Smith at 9.85. It was Smith's second vault win of 2010. Freshman Liz Green shared her third consecutive balance beam title with Dickerson at 9.825. It was Dickerson's first collegiate beam win. A pair of Gators shared their first event wins of the season on the uneven bars – senior All-American Amanda Castillo and freshman Marissa King. For King, it was her first collegiate title. King was also runner-up in the all-around (38.85) and Dickerson was second in the final floor standings (9.825).
Florida will be the third top-10 opponent the Tide has met this season. Alabama posted home wins over then No. 10 and five-time defending NCAA champion Georgia (196.275-195.50/Jan. 15) and then No. 7 Arkansas (197.45-195.50/Jan. 22). The crowd of 14,220 for the UA-UGA dual ranks as the nation's second-largest this season. Last Friday, Alabama was upset at then No. 13 LSU 196.475-196.05. It was the first dual meet win for LSU over the perennial power since 2002. The Tide was forced to count a fall on its opening event, the uneven bars. UA's Ashley Priess claimed the evening's balance beam title at 9.925. It was the only event title not picked up by the nation's No. 1 all-arounder, LSU's Susan Jackson. UA's Sarah Patterson is in her 32nd season as head coach of the Tide.
Live scoring can be found at www.GatorZone.com and live meet updates can be view at www.Twitter.com/GatorZoneGym. The UF-UA competition airs tape-delayed on ESPN2 on Feb. 21 at 11:30 a.m.
