The Stanford women’s gymnastics team made its home debut last Sunday, taking on No. 1 UCLA in a preseason meet at Burnham Pavilion. The No. 2 Cardinal left with a 196.200-194.825 victory and high hopes for the fast-approaching season.

Leading the way for Stanford were Shelley Alexander and Ashley Morgan, who left the meet with high rankings and a few commendations. Alexander, a senior from Seguin, Texas, was named the Pac-10 gymnast of the week while Morgan, a sophomore from Danville, Calif., was awarded the Pac-10 special performance of the week. Both gymnasts hold national top-10 rankings for their events, with Alexander ranked sixth for all-around and fourth for the beam. Morgan also holds two rankings, first for the floor exercise and sixth for the beam.

As the season continues, Stanford will need leadership from its core of four captains: Alexander, fifth-year senior Allyse Ishino, junior Alyssa Brown and senior Danielle Ikoma. This will be Ikoma’s second season as captain. Last season, Stanford finished fourth at the NCAA Super Six Finals, and even with the loss of first-team All-Americans Blair Ryland and Carly Janiga, the Cardinal is working to surpass its fourth-place finish in last season’s finals.

This Friday, the Cardinal will face No. 4 Utah in Salt Lake City. With Stanford at 7-0 and the Utes at 3-0, the meet will determine which team moves on with an unblemished record. Although Stanford is the highest-ranked team on Utah’s schedule, the Cardinal has never defeated the Utes in their home arena.

The Utes faced UCLA on Jan. 7, narrowly defeating the Bruins by four-tenths of a point. More recently, Utah is coming off a victory over No. 3 Georgia on Jan. 15. Both meets were away from Salt Lake City, and Stanford will be facing the Utes in their home opener.

For all their talent, the Utes will be missing one of their best gymnasts. Kyndal Robarts, a senior All-American ranked first on the vault, is out with a knee injury suffered on Jan. 22 while warming up for a competition in Nebraska.

In all events, the Cardinal boasts national rankings in the top 10. It is ranked second overall, ninth on the vault, third on the bars, first on the beam and second on floor exercise. Stanford has taken its team to the NCAA Super Six Finals three out of the last four years and hopes to take this 2011 squad to yet another final.

Stanford will face Utah on Friday at 6 p.m. PST in Salt Lake City, Utah.