The Gym Devils haven’t scored well these past few meets, but their Senior Night meet could help them bounce back.
The No. 23 ASU women’s gymnastics team (4-5, 2-4 Pac-12) hosts the No. 11 Stanford Cardinal (9-3, 4-3 Pac-12) on Friday at 7 p.m.
This is the Sun Devils’ last home meet, and they will be honoring their seven seniors.
Although the seniors will be honored, their main focus is to get a win at home.
The ASU gymnasts have pushed aside the past losses from their minds and are more than ready to perform well.
“We’re still really confident in ourselves,” freshman Natelle Gentile said. “As soon as that (Washington) meet ended, all we could say is, ‘We’re ready for Stanford. We’re going to beat Stanford.’
“There’s more energy than there ever has been. This week has been awesome in the gym. We’re all getting our assignments done, we’re all there for each other and we’re all just ready to go (against) Stanford.”
The Gym Devils are in the home stretch of their season. Coach John Spini feels the team will bounce back from its slump and hit its stride.
“We have some aches and pains, but what we’re really focused on working on are the things we need to (do) to get to that 9.85 range,” Spini said. “We’ll keep working on that, and if we can get it all together, I think this is a 196 team. I really believe that. They really have to get their mindset where they want it, and I think this is a very confident team. I just think they’ve just got to make it work.”
The Sun Devils are currently ranked No. 17 on uneven bars, No. 18 on balance beam and No. 22 on floor exercise.
The Sun Devils will have some extra motivation in their last home meet, which can be emotional for the seniors who have committed themselves to the program for such a long time.
“I’m really excited,” senior Beaté Jones said. “It’s kind of a bittersweet thing. It’s my fifth year, so I’m really like this super senior.”
Jones is ranked No. 20 in the nation in the all-around.
“This has been an amazing year for all the seniors, so I think we’re just trying to make sure this last meet at Wells Fargo (Arena) is just awesome, and that we have something to remember us by,” Jones said.
Reach the reporter at gdemano@asu.edu
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