Defending Pac-12 Champs Await No. 13 Gym Devils On Friday

TEMPE, Ariz. – After a strong start to the season, No. 13 Sun Devil Gymnastics will stay on the road as they begin Pac-12 play in Salt Lake City to take on defending conference champions No. 2 Utah on Friday at 7 p.m. MST.

How to Follow
The matchup can be viewed on the Pac-12 Network at 7 p.m. MST. Live scoring will also be available, as well as updates on Twitter (@SunDevilGym).

Sun Devil Outlook
No. 13 Arizona State (0-1)

• In the season opener at No. 1 Michigan, the Gym Devils took second with a score of 196.275, the highest season-opening team score in program history. Arizona State is facing the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in back-to-back meets for the first time in program history.
• Multiple streaks continued for ASU as it was its 11th meet in a row surpassing 196.000 as a team, the 18th meet in a row scoring 49.000+ on bars and also improved to 10 meets in a row reaching that score on the vault.
• Many gymnasts made their collegiate debuts against the Wolverines with sophomore Cienna Samiley and freshmen Mallory Marcheli and Alex Theodorou all competing for the first time for ASU. 
• Theodorou shone in her first collegiate meet. She scored the first 9.900 for the Gym Devils as the anchor spot on vault while also adding a 9.850 on the bars and a 9.875 on floor.
• As the lone all-around competitor for ASU against Michigan, junior Hannah Scharf did not score below a 9.850 in any event with her highest score of 9.900 on the floor and earned a 39.475 overall.
• The Sun Devils and Utes competed last season in Tempe where the teams were neck and neck throughout the meet, with ASU coming in second. The team had a break-out meet with a score of 197.150, the first 197.000-plus since 2006. ASU is looking for its first win over Utah since 2003.

Opponent Outlook
No. 2 Utah (4-0)

• The Utes are coming off a dual win over No. 4 Oklahoma on Friday. In the first weekend, they competed in the Best of Utah tournament where they won the meet for the third-straight season against in-state competitors.
• Four Utes received Pac-12 Weekly awards last week as Cristal Isa was named Pac-12 Gymnast of the Week, Jaedyn Rucker was named Pac-12 Specialist of the Week, Amelie Morgan received the Pac-12 Freshman of the Week award and Jillian Hoffman earned the Coaches Choice Award.
• Going into week three of the season, Utah ranks No. 2 on Road to Nationals as a team, while also being in the top 5 on Road to Nationals in each of the four events.