With a familiar face on the opposite end of the gym, the Penn State women's gymnastics team will face the Arkansas Lady Razorbacks at 8 tonight in Barnhill Arena in Fayetteville, Ark.

Nittany Lions head coach Steve Shephard will go head-to-head against former Penn State gymnast turned head coach Rene Cook. Cook, formerly known as Rene Lyst, had a successful career while competing at Penn State, taking home a 1992 Big Ten balance beam title. Cook graduated from Penn State in 1993 and now coaches alongside her husband, Mark, at Arkansas.

According to senior captain Meredith Hoover, Cook is really pumping her team up for this weekend's meet.

"[The] coach is wearing Penn State gear to motivate her team to beat us," Hoover said.

The Lions will prepare to compete in a different environment this weekend as they head far away from home, fans and family. The team will perform in front of a packed audience -- twice as many fans are present for meets in Barnhill arena than at Penn State's Rec Hall.

The team will also continue to focus on consistency and execution. Shephard wants the team to hit routines without having to count falls.

"We want to do it better, higher and cleaner," Shephard said.

Junior Stephanie Sullivan has high expectations for this weekend's meet as the team strives to perfect little errors. Sullivan said having pointed toes and straight legs are some small ways to greatly improve team scores.

Individually, Sullivan wants to do the best she can, particularly on the balance beam.

"I want to get my start value up on beam," Sullivan said.

The beam judging starts out at a 9.5 and increases with the demonstration of hard skills or double skills. The team's goal is to get a 10.0.

As for going up against a former Penn State gymnast, Sullivan said it will make for an interesting scenario.

"We're going to do the best we can do for the team and for the school," Sullivan said. "It should be irrelevant who we're up against or where we are."