How to Watch: Livvy Dunne, No. 2 LSU Gymnastics Hosts No. 1 Oklahoma Sooners

Jay Clark's crew prepares for a showdown against the top-ranked squad in America, battle in Baton Rouge.

Courtesy of LSU Gymnastics.

BATON ROUGE – The No. 2 LSU Gymnastics team (6-2, 3-1 SEC) is set to host No. 1 Oklahoma (10-1, 4-0 SEC) for one of the most highly anticipated regular season matchups of the year. The Tigers and the Sooners will face off inside the Pete Maravich Assembly Center on Friday, February 14 at 8 p.m. CT on ESPN2. 

“This is an exciting meet. These are the kind of meets you dream about competing in, but it’s also not a destination for us. We have to stay 100% focused on us and our process,” said head coach Jay Clark, “Our mindset stays the same this week as it would any other week. We know who’s coming here and it’s rare you get this opportunity in any sport, but that doesn’t change our process.”

“I have the utmost respect for Oklahoma and all those coaches. They do a really good job. I think that there’s a mutual respect between both programs and this meet will be fantastic exposure not only for college gymnastics, but for our fans here and the Baton Rouge community.”

John Roethelisberger, Aly Raisman and Taylor Davis will be on site to cover the meet. Friday’s meet marks the first meeting between LSU and Oklahoma as conference foes and only their sixth meeting inside the PMAC.

The Tigers are on a 13-0 win streak inside the PMAC and haven’t lost a home meet since their last time facing Oklahoma on January 16, 2023. LSU is also 8-0 when competing in front of crowds larger than 13,000+ inside the PMAC.

Promotion

It is alumni night in the PMAC on Friday as the program will welcome back past Tigers and recognize them pre-meet. There will be a snow globe giveaway to the first 1,000 fans to arrive on Friday. Doors to the arena open at 6:30 p.m. CT.

There will also be light up wristbands on every seat for fans to wear during the meet, which are presented by Louisiana Blue. 

Last Time On The Floor

The Tigers earned their first SEC road victory of the year over No. 14 Alabama by a score of 197.300-197.075 last Friday in Coleman Coliseum. Freshman Kailin Chio claimed her second straight all-around title with her 39.650 on the night, which tied her career high all-around score.

LSU claimed three event titles on the night: Chio on vault with a 9.975, junior Ashley Cowan and sophomore Konnor McClain shared the bars title with a 9.90, and Chio on beam with a 9.925.

The Tigers opened the night on bars, where freshman Lexi Zeiss led off with a 9.75, followed by a strong 9.90 from junior Ashley Cowan. Senior Alexis Jeffrey scored a 9.80 in the third spot and was followed by a 9.85 from Chio in spot four. Senior Aleah Finnegan posted a 9.825 score in the fifth spot before McClain anchored with a strong 9.90. The 9.90 routines from McClain and Cowan was the joint-highest score on the event of the night and helped boost LSU’s rotation score to a 49.275.

At the end of the first rotation, LSU led by a margin of 49.275-49.175.

The second rotation saw LSU move on vault, where senior KJ Johnson led things off with a 9.825. Senior Chase Brock posted a 9.775 in spot two ahead of a 9.825 from Finnegan in the third spot. A 9.90 from sophomore Amari Drayton came in the fourth spot before Chio executed a near-flawless yurchenko one and half in spot five that earned a career-high 9.975. The rotation concluded with senior Haleigh Bryant’s first vault pass of the 2025 season, a stellar routine that earned a 9.925 scoreline and took LSU’s event total to 49.450.

At the halfway point of the meet, the Tigers were on top by a margin of 98.725-98.450

It was floor time for the Tigers as the third rotation opened with graduate student Sierra Ballard scoring a 9.775. The second spot saw freshman Kaliya Lincoln make her collegiate debut on the floor with an impressive 9.875. A pair of 9.90s followed as Chio earned hers in the third spot while Drayton scored hers in spot four. It was a 9.675 for Finnegan in the fifth spot after a step out on a pass, but Bryant anchored with a 9.875 to bring LSU’s floor tally to 49.325 for the event.

The Tigers led by a score of 148.050-147.575 heading to the final rotation of the night.

The final rotation of the night saw LSU on beam. The event opened with Ballard posting a 9.550 in the opening spot. Sophomore Kylie Coen scored a 9.825 in spot two ahead of a stellar 9.925 from Chio in the third spot. McClain added a 9.775 in the fourth spot, followed by a 9.85 from Bryant right after. The anchor routine was a veteran performance from Finnegan, who shrugged off her drop score from floor and posted a 9.875 to clinch a tough road victory for the Tigers. LSU’s final score on beam came out to a 49.250.

The victory marked LSU’s fourth consecutive win over Alabama in the regular season.

Chio took home a total of three titles on the night, moving her career total to nine on the season. Cowan won her first bars title of the year, now with two in her career, and McClain won her third title this season, all coming on bars.

Scouting The Sooners

The top-ranked Oklahoma Sooners come to town as the No. 1 team in the nation. They’ve held the top spot in the nation for all six weeks of regular season competition thus far and currently own an average of 197.746.

LSU is 11-25-0 all-time against Oklahoma and owns a record of 2-3-0 when competing against the Sooners at home. Oklahoma has won 11-straight meetings over LSU dating back to 2016.

The Sooners own a season high score of 197.950, which they posted in the Sprout’s Collegiate Quad in the same session as LSU, Utah and Cal.

Since 2019, the Sooners have been a part of six No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchups, including Friday’s meeting with No. 2 LSU. Ahead of Friday night, the Sooners are 4-1 in such matchups with the lone blemish coming in 2023 at No. 2 Michigan. Out of the six top-two matchups, the Sooners have been the No. 1 team on five occasions.

This is OU’s first top-two battle with LSU in a regular season dual meet. The team were also No. 1 and No. 2 when they met earlier this season at the Sprouts Collegiate Quad meet.

Oklahoma currently ranks in the top three nationally on every event, including being the No. 1 team on bars and beam.

Six Sooners grabbed 18 individual rankings this week, with four all-around competitors in the top 10. Faith Torrez is ranked No. 2 in the nation in the all-around (39.608), followed by Jordan Bowers at No. 3 (39.579) and Audrey Davis at No. 4 (39.545). Lily Pederson checked in at No. 8 (39.483) as the Sooners lead the country with the most athletes ranked in the top 10 of the all-around.

Week Six Road To Nationals Rankings

LSU moved back up to No. 2 in the national rankings after defeating No. 14 Alabama in Tuscaloosa last Friday. The Tigers jumped No. 3 Florida in this week’s rankings following the victory, now owning an average of 197.400. LSU previously spent the first three weeks of competition at No. 2.

LSU enters the seventeenth week of competition ranked in the top five on every event for the second straight week – first on vault, fourth on bars, fifth on beam and fourth on floor. The Tigers are the top vault team in the country for the second straight week.

The Tigers have recorded some of the top event scores in the country through six meets, including the second highest vault score (49.550), fifth highest bars score (49.425), fourth highest beam score (49.550) and sixth highest floor score (49.525). The squad enters week seven with averages of 49.417 on vault, 49.346 on bars, 49.296 on beam and 49.342 on floor.

The duo of senior Aleah Finnegan and freshman Kailin Chio continue to lead the Tigers in the all-around, placing amongst the top 25 gymnasts in the nation. Finnegan is ranked No. 14 in the all-around with her average of 39.412 while Chio is ranked No. 22 with her average of 39.346.

Haleigh Bryant returned to the vault lineup for the first time this season in the Tigers last competition and currently ranks No. 1 on the event after scoring a 9.925. Chio also shares the second spot on vault after posting a career high 9.975 against Alabama.

Chase Brock, Ashley Cowan and Konnor McClain also earned a spot amongst the top 25 gymnasts in the week six rankings.

Key Returners in 2025

This year’s squad consists of 21 gymnasts and 15 returners: 10 seniors, two juniors, four sophomores and five freshmen. 

Haleigh Bryant, Olivia Dunne, Sierra Ballard, Chase Brock and Alyona Shchennikova all returned for their final seasons with the Tigers in 2025. Bryant, Dunne, Ballard and Brock are in their fifth-year season while Shchennikova is in her sixth-year.

Shchennikova is back this year after missing the 2024 season due to injury. She is an All-American on the uneven bars and will return veteran routines to the all-around. The Evergreen, Colorado native owns career high’s of 9.950 on vault and bars, 9.925 on beam, 9.975 on floor and 39.525 in the all-around.

Bryant, the 2024 NCAA All-Around Champion, AAI Award Winner and SEC Gymnast of the Year, is in her final season with the Tigers in 2025 after a historic senior season last year. She owns the program record all-around score (39.925) and career high’s of 10.00 across all four events, including the most perfect 10’s by any LSU gymnast (18).

A Louisiana native, Ballard is a veteran to the beam and floor lineup, where she owns career high’s of 9.950 and 9.925.

Dunne, a native of Hillsdale, New Jersey, played a vital role to the bars and floor lineups for LSU last season as she returned ready to go on three events. She owns career highs of 9.925 on bars and 9.900 on floor. Brock is a mainstay in the vault and floor lineups for the Tigers in her final season, where she owns career high’s of 9.975 and 9.925.

Other key returners for the 2025 season include Aleah Finnegan, KJ Johnson, Tori Tatum, Alexis Jeffrey, Ashley Cowan, Konnor McClain and Amari Drayton.

Finnegan, the 2024 NCAA Floor Champion, has been pivotal in the all-around for the Tigers this year so far. The senior owns career highs of 10’s on vault, beam and floor, 9.925 on bars and a 39.800 in the all-around.

Johnson competed in every meet on vault for the Tigers during their national championship run in 2024 and in all but one meet on floor. In her senior season, she is a veteran on vault and floor for LSU, owning career highs of 9.950 on vault and 9.975 on floor.

Cowan, Tatum and Jeffrey are all mainstays in the bars lineup for the Tigers and all own a career high of 9.950 on the event. 

The duo of McClain and Drayton began their sophomore season after a prominent freshman year, where the two competed in every meet for the Tigers. McClain is currently impacting the bars and beam lineups, owning career highs of a perfect 10 on both events, while Drayton mainly competes on vault and floor for LSU. She owns career highs of 9.975 on vault and 9.925 on floor.

Kailin Chio, Kaliya Lincoln, Lexi Zeiss, Zoe Miller and Victoria Roberts make up this year’s freshman class.

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