The No.9 Stanford women’s gymnastics squad gears up to face No. 8 UCLA this Sunday in Pauley Pavilion.

This meet marks UCLA’s season home opener, but Stanford has already set the bar high after a stunning victory against the Bruins on their home turf last year. Stanford beat the Bruins 196.825 to 196.25 to maintain its No.4 ranking going into the postseason.

This year the Card and the Bruins are neck-in-neck in the Pac-10, both fresh off of victories from last weekend.

Stanford will need to tap into its consistency and composure this weekend as the Bruins feature tough competitors. UCLA sophomore Anna Li is currently ranked in the top 20 in all events, redshirt freshman Brittani McCullough has been putting up some high scores on vault and senior Tasha Schwikert has been scoring well on bars.

But with a squad of 17, the Cardinal may have more ammunition than the Bruins can handle.

Returning this week are co-captain All-Americans Kelly Fee and Nicole Ourada. Junior Heather Purnell, a former Olympian, is now healthy and returning this year after suffering a torn ACL last season.

“Purnell has worked really hard to get back in the line up,” Stanford coach Kristen Smyth said. “She is a solid competitor and a good sense of stability.”

Sophomore Carly Janiga was named Event Specialist of the Week on Jan. 13 for her performances on beam and bar. Adding to the lineup are freshman Shelly Alexander on vault and Danielle Ikoma, and with the precedent set over the last two meets, redshirt freshman Allyse Ishino should also be a force to reckon with on bars.

Not only is this Sunday going to be a true test for the Cardinal at Pauley Pavilion, but because gymnastics is a point-based sport where a team’s ranking is determined by the cumulative score at the end of a meet, the Stanford women will face the challenge of increasing the point values of their overall scores.

“We really need to fix some of the wobbles and falls on beam and floor and just rest up before we go to LA,” senior Stephanie Gentry said.

Despite having a low-scoring meet against Arizona, coach Smyth is positive that the team is getting stronger everyday.

“Last weekend we had some nerves and we tried out a new lineup. We just need to make sure that we keep our energy up,” coach Smyth said.

Smyth took advantage of the opportunity to rest some of the team’s veterans against Arizona in preparation for Sunday against the Bruins. But she is not going to let the Bruins get even an inch on the Card.

“We’re putting in our top line up this weekend and adding difficulty,” she said. “We really want to bring a team of 24 solid routines because our consistency will be dangerous.”