After having missed the last two LSU gymnastics meets due to undisclosed reasons, Olivia Dunne returned to the mat during LSU's most recent contest — and she delivered a spectacular performance.
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Dunne — who was a late replacement for teammate KJ Johnson in LSU's floor lineup — delivered her floor routine on Friday in miraculous fashion, producing a near-perfect score of 9.875.
Liv got it Dunne 🙌@livvydunne matches her season high with a 9.875!
📺 SECN+ pic.twitter.com/aMoBZentEJ
— LSU Gymnastics (@LSUgym) February 3, 2024
The routine's score contributed to the fifth-ranked LSU team earning a 198.475-to-196.200 win over the seventh-ranked Arkansas Razorbacks squad.
What's more, LSU's 198.475 mark is the highest meet score in LSU history; it ranks as the highest in the nation by any team this year; and it ties for the 14th best all-time score in NCAA history.
By the time Dunne's routine was nearing an end, the ESPN booth said, "Double-pike... [Dunne] does it very well. She knows it's good."
Which her fantastic score would confirm.
Although it was never confirmed by Dunne or LSU, the reason that the 21-year-old social media sensation didn't perform in the Tigers' two previous meets before Friday was most likely due to injury.
This was especially concerning to Tigers fans. Dunne, who is now a senior, has had her career's progression halted multiple times during her LSU tenure due to various injuries.
Yet, if Friday's floor routine is any indication, Dunne is back to full health — and appears to have returned to her peak.
While Friday's win was the 100th career victory for LSU head coach Jay Clark, he was more pleased with his team's performance.
"I know everyone wants to talk about the score tonight, and that's great," Clark said after the match. "I do not focus on whether we get a low or high score. It's about our performance. We did our job tonight, and we can do that same performance somewhere else. For us, it's about keeping our eye on the next step ahead of us and just taking it one step at a time."
LSU's next match will be this coming Friday, when it visits Georgia. Assuming Dunne stays healthy, we can probably expect to see her back in action for that one.
