The ASU gymnastics team won't have to wait very long to host its highest profile dual meet of the season.
In their opening home competition of the 2006 campaign, the Sun Devils will have no shortage of motivation to protect Wells Fargo Arena as intrastate rival UA comes to Tempe.
On paper, the two teams appear evenly matched, with ASU bringing in a No. 17 national ranking and the Wildcats a No. 14 ranking. But those marks are based solely on each squad's highest team score this season. After competing just once -- a 193.15-189.95 win over hapless Boise State -- the Sun Devils said they are far from hitting their stride.
After a series of high-energy practices at its new on-campus training facility, ASU is looking forward to a competition on the big stage -- like the one a match-up with the Wildcats always provides.
"I'm glad we're facing them [UA] right away because we'll just show what we have," junior April Boone said. "Just by looking at us, we're ready for anything."
Sunday will mark the home debut for what might be 26th-year head coach John Spini's finest crop of freshmen yet. Both Nicole Harris and Tia Orlando were invited to try out for the 2004 Athens Olympic team and are penciled in to do the all-around this year.
Harris won the all-around against Boise State with a score of 39.050, although Orlando stumbled with a mark of 36.950. Spini said Orlando has been suffering from sore shins but will compete against UA.
Senior Ashley Kelly, who won the national championship on balance beam as a sophomore, is looking to improve her first all-around score of 38.60 after slipping on the uneven bars at Boise State.
"There is a lot of room for improvement," Kelly said. "We always want to beat the 'Cats. We're excited -- I think we'll have no problem."
Swim and Dive
The men's and women's swim and dive teams will be in California this weekend for meets against Cal and Stanford.
The men recently lost back-to-back home meets to No. 15 Purdue and No. 8 Minnesota, while the women are coming off of a 158-47 win against Oregon State in which they took first place in every event.
On Friday, ASU will take on the highly-ranked Cal teams, with the men coming in at No. 2 and the women at No. 6. The Bears' men's team has not competed since the Texas Invitational on Dec. 1-3.
On Saturday, ASU faces two Stanford squads (No. 3 men, No. 3 women) that have both yet to lose a dual meet.
Women's Tennis
ASU begins the 2006 season with a match-up against No. 3 Texas at noon on Saturday. The Longhorns advanced to the NCAA finals last season before falling to Stanford.
The two teams faced off last season in Austin, with Texas squeaking out a 4-3 win. The Sun Devils have a 6-14 record against Texas in coach Sheila McInerney's tenure.
The match against Texas will be the first of 15 against ranked teams for ASU.
Wrestling
The No. 13 Sun Devils will put their 10-match Pac-10 win streak on the line when they face off against Oregon State and Oregon this weekend.
ASU went 8-0 against conference competition last year, and have started 2-0 this season.
The Beavers are 6-1-1 overall this season, with an unblemished 3-0 conference record.
The Sun Devils have won 19 duals in a row against Oregon (3-3, 1-2), including a 23-15 decision in Eugene last year.
