Since 1966, the series history between the women's gymnastics teams from Penn State and Pittsburgh can be summed up in one word: dominance.

Throughout the 38-year history of the series, Penn State has amassed an incredible 36-1 record against its rivals from the western portion of the state.

Tomorrow night, No. 21 Penn State (6-3-1) will travel to Pittsburgh (7-4-1) with two goals in mind. The team hopes to build off its season-high point total from last week's meet while at the same time building on its incredible success from years past.

Last week, the Nittany Lions earned a season-high point total of 195.950, paced by solid performances on the vault and uneven bars. What made the score even more impressive was the fact that Penn State scored so well on the bars, as that event as been the Lions' Achilles' heel so far this season. The score was not enough to overtake Ohio State though, as the Buckeyes posted an identical total, resulting in the first tie of the season for both teams.

Penn State posted its highest vault score of the season with a 49.250, as well as a season-high 48.875 on the uneven bars. Sophomore Michelle Ilg led Penn State with an impressive 9.900 on the bars.

Penn State women's gymnastics coach Steve Shephard was happy with the performance and is looking forward to tomorrow's clash with the Panthers.

"We had a really solid meet last week," he said. "We were hitting our routines and posting high scores. Hopefully this will carry over to this weekend's meet."

Shephard acknowledged that the team has been training extremely hard for a late-season push. He said the team is happy with its No. 21 ranking, but believes that it can continue to move up in the standings.

So far this season, the team has moved up every week in the national rankings.

-- By Tom Loughner