GEORGIA GYMNASTICS: Gym Dogs survive 3 falls to win opener

Athens —- It wasn’t their prettiest win, but the Georgia gymnastics team began their season Friday with a victory, 195.425 to 194.075 against West Virginia.

“We did not look like a top 15 team tonight,” said Suzanne Yoculan. The Gym Dogs, who are defending national champions, have high hopes for the last season for Yoculan —- a fifth straight and 10th overall NCAA national championship.

But the team’s low-scoring victory wasn’t helpful.

The team had three falls during the night. When they seemed to get momentum, it would be cut short with a poor landing or a fall.

“We never could really get into a groove,” she said.

The team, bolstered by six 2008 All-Americans, including two NCAA champions, entered Friday’s meet ranked No. 1 in a preseason coaches poll.

The Gym Dogs had a shaky start on the uneven bars, with senior Abby Stack falling from the bars early in her routine. The team finished with strong performances, including a 9.9 from Tiffany Tolnay and a graceful, precise 9.975 from senior Courtney Kupets.

Kupets, a 10-time All-American and five-time NCAA champion, returned to competition Friday after recovering from an Achilles tendon injury. She injured a foot during the floor exercise of the last regular season meet in March 2008.

In the final rotation Friday, she proved she wasn’t cowed by the floor, scoring a 9.95 on her routine.

“It was definitely great to be back,” she said, adding that she wasn’t at her best.

She scored well on both the bars, the beam and the floor exercise, but struggled on the vault, stepping backward as she landed, getting a 9.675 score that was thrown out.

Overall, the team showed some confidence on the floor, with a 9.85 from sophomore Cassidy McComb and a 9.9 from Abby Stack, tying her career best.

The low-scoring victory wasn’t what the Gym Dogs had hoped for, but it is where they’ll have to start.

“It’s better to start at the bottom than at the top, I guess we are at the bottom,” said Kupets. “But we are going to climb our way up for sure.”

Georgia heads to LSU to take on the seventh-ranked Tigers on Jan. 16. But perhaps their most anticipated meet of the season comes three days later in Athens against No. 2-ranked Utah.