The gauntlet continues.

For the fifth straight week, the ASU women’s gymnastics team will battle a ranked opponent when it takes on No. 8 Stanford on Friday at Wells Fargo Arena.

So far, the No. 24 Sun Devils (2-6) are 1-6 against ranked schools.

Stanford (7-2) is the second top-10 team ASU will match up against.

“The expectations for this weekend are very high because we are moving upward so quickly,” ASU coach John Spini said. “But it will definitely depend on our mindset when we step on the floor.”

The Cardinal defeated No. 9 UCLA last weekend in Los Angeles and currently has four all-arounders ranked in the top 25 nationally.

The Sun Devils snapped a three-meet losing streak last Saturday with a 195.650-195.425 win over now-No. 23 Washington.

The victory gave ASU back-to-back scores of 195 or higher for the first time since February 2009.

“We can score higher,” junior Mary Atkinson said. “There’s room for improvement on pretty much every event. We can definitely score around a 196.3.”

Both Spini and Atkinson believe the team is where it needs be at this juncture of the season.

“There are a lot of good things that are happening,” Spini said. “We are starting to peak heading toward the postseason, and that’s really important.”

“To say we’ve scored mid-to-high 195s in the last two meets is big,” Atkinson said. “We have enough home and away meets left that we won’t have to count any of our low scores from the beginning of the season.”

The two also pointed out areas the Sun Devils will need to improve on in order to challenge the Cardinal.

“It’s critical that we stay focused on what we need to do on balance beam,” Spini said. “Our vaulting and bars are coming along so well, and our floor has been strong most of the year.”

“We are going to have to be more precise,” Atkinson said. “Especially on our handstands on bars and our landings.”

ASU averages 194.204 points, while Stanford averages 195.983.

The Sun Devils haven’t beaten the Cardinal since 2004.

Friday night’s contest will also be showcase night for ASU junior Francesca Mercurio, who grew up less than 20 miles from Palo Alto.

Mercurio and Stanford senior Stephanie Carter both trained at the Byers Gymnastics Center in Sacramento.

To put a cherry on her night, Wells Fargo will be giving away posters featuring her picture to the first 500 fans at the meet.

Reach the reporter at tyler.emerick@asu.edu