No. 14 Arkansas Set for Friday Night Showdown at No. 5 LSU

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The No. 14 Arkansas Razorbacks are calling Baton Rouge as they prepare to face No. 5 LSU in the Maravich Center on Friday evening. It will be the sixth time this season the Gymbacks have competed against a top-10 team.

The top-15 match up will be available for fans to watch on SEC Network+ starting at 7:15 p.m. (CT).

Arkansas visits a 7-2 LSU squad that has won its last four meets, coming into the weekend undefeated in the month of February. The Tigers are led by freshman Kiya Johnson, who before this week, had earned SEC Freshman of the Week honors for four consecutive weeks. She ranks second in the nation in the all-around with an average performance of 39.542.

Sophomore Kennedy Hambrick will be looking for her fifth-straight all-around title. She finished Friday night’s meet against Auburn with scores of 9.900 or higher on three of four events for a 39.500 all-around score, good for her fourth-straight title.

The Gymbacks scored above the 196 mark for the seventh consecutive meet last Friday night and snagged six event titles, but fell short to No.20 Auburn, falling to the Tigers, 196.500-196.025. 5,224 fans flocked to Barnhill Arena for Women’s Empowerment night on Friday evening, the ninth highest in program history. Since the start of the Wieber era, the Razorbacks have hosted three, top-10 crowds.

Arkansas has seen great improvement all-around this season, but most noticeably on the beam. Over the first three meets of the season, Arkansas’ beam average sat at 48.775 (9.755), but over the course of the last three meets – that average has jumped to 49.175 (9.835).

The Razorbacks will be looking for their first dual meet win against LSU since 2012 when Arkansas defeated LSU, 197.225 – 196.325 in Barnhill Arena. Arkansas has not won a dual meet on the road since 2011. A win would be the first time since 2016 that the Razorbacks secured three wins against SEC opponents and the first time since the same year that Arkansas won two road meets.

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