The No. 12 Arizona Gymnastics team heads up I-10 tonight to take on rival Arizona State at 7:30 p.m.

The meet has some close ties to UA head coach Bill Ryden.

Ryden, a graduate of ASU, said he believes his connection and knowledge of the Sun Devils program will make this an exciting match.

"This goes a lot deeper than just the schools' rivalry," said Ryden. "We have a lot of familiarity with their coaching staff and their program, and expect to see their best effort."

The Gymcats are 8-3 overall and 3-2 in Pacific 10 Conference competition after a solid win over Washington last Friday, 195.550-193.225.

The Sun Devils defeated the Wildcats last year, 197.450-196.900, in McKale Center. Arizona has not won in Tempe since the 1987 season.

Arizona senior Randi Liljenquist won three individual titles against Washington. She finished first on beam (9.825) and floor (9.975), while sharing top honors on vault with Wildcat freshman Jamie Schell and Andi McCabe by scoring a 9.900. The vault scores were career highs for both Schell and Liljenquist.

Despite a record of just 5-5-1 overall and 1-3-1 in the Pac-10, Arizona State is ranked No. 15 in the nation - attributed to the NCAA scoring system for gymnastics, in which the average score per meet for each team determines national rankings.

Liljenquist said she recognizes the system when evaluating the Gymcats' chances against ASU.

"We compete against our own scores," Liljenquist added.

"That makes it much easier to succeed, especially in important matches like (tonight's)."