For the first time in 2014, the Gators will have home-floor advantage.
No. 3 Florida (2-0, 1-0 Southeastern Conference) hosts No. 6 Georgia (2-2, 1-0 SEC) in the O’Connell Center tonight at 7.
“The team is just so looking forward to running out of the tunnel,” coach Rhonda Faehn said. “We just love competing at home.”
Though the Gators are the reigning champions, they believe there is room for improvement. Tonight’s meet will mark Florida’s next step in climbing to the top from a less than stellar season opener against UCLA.
The team improved 0.425 points from 196.65 against the Bruins to a score of 197.075 against Auburn on Jan. 17, and it will look to do better against the Bulldogs tonight.
“There’s such a difference between if you’re competing at home or on the road and who you’re competing in the lineups and it’s just so early in the season,” Faehn said. “Usually, later in the season when it starts to go by your [regional qualifying score], and it gets a better average ... that’s when it starts to take a little bit more effect.
“So for right now, I’m not focusing on that.”
Faehn said she does not look too far ahead in the season. Tonight is a matter of focusing on Florida’s task at hand: Georgia.
UF faced Georgia four times in 2013 — once during the regular season, which Florida won (197.30-196.175), and three times in postseason meets.
While Florida won its second consecutive SEC title (198.00), Georgia finished fourth (197.325) in the conference.
The teams met in both NCAA Championships’ semifinal (Florida 197.775, Georgia 197.15) and NCAA Super Six (Florida 197.575, Georgia 196.675) competition.
The Bulldogs have had a busy January. Georgia competed four times in a span of a little more than three weeks.
After losing its first two meets of the year, UGA is coming to Gainesville on a two-game winning streak — the same as UF.
While Florida’s Bridget Sloan won SEC Gymnast of the Week on Monday, Georgia’s Chelsea Davis and Kiera Brown snagged both of the SEC’s other two weekly individual awards: Event Specialist of the Week and Freshman of the Week, respectively.
Davis contributed a career-best 9.975 on bars and a 9.9 on vault to aid in Georgia’s takedown of No. 2 LSU on Jan. 17.
For Florida’s two freshmen, tonight’s meet will be a foreign experience. Both Silvia Colussi-Pelaez and Claire Boyce have competed for UF on the road, but they have only ever practiced in the O’Connell Center.
“It’s going to be something they’ve never experienced before,” Faehn said.
“I think it will kind of open up a whole new level for them that they haven’t seen before. That’s where they’ll start to gain the appreciation for loving competing at home.”
Colussi-Pelaez put up her first official numbers on floor (9.725) against Auburn, while Boyce competed balance beam and floor at both meets.
“I told them to expect the unexpected,” Sloan said. “I told them to just be aware that the crowd will be very respectful, they are a very respectful crowd. And they applaud great gymnastics.”
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Bridget Sloan sticks a landing during Florida’s 196.575-190.55 win against Ball State on Jan. 4, 2013, in the O’Connell Center. Sloan won two events when Florida faced Georgia in the NCAA Super Six.
