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Jordan Schwikert and the Bruins take their two-meet win streak to Stanford today.

The ball is finally rolling for the UCLA gymnastics team, and the Bruins aren’t planning on stopping it anytime soon.

Trying to find its niche for most of the season, UCLA appears to have found it fresh off the heels of its two most significant wins of the season. The No. 9 Bruins (8-2) will look to continue their forward momentum today as they travel to Palo Alto in a dual meet against No. 26 Stanford (1-3).

Having already gone through an uncharacteristic stretch in which the team was unhappy with their performances, the Bruins go into today’s meet optimistic that they have made the necessary changes to move forward.

“Last weekend was a turning point of our season,” coach Valorie Kondos Field said. “The team’s playing to win now and they’re excited to go out and compete.

“Everyone’s holding each other accountable now. I see a fire in their eyes and it’s exciting to see.”

UCLA is particularly excited to compete against a Cardinal team that snatched the Pac-10 Championship away from them last season.

A year ago, attempting their third consecutive conference championship, the Bruins entered the meet as the clear favorite. As the meet progressed, however, UCLA found Stanford matching it stride-for-stride, and eventually pulling off the upset by a narrow margin of .025.

However, since the conference showdown, the Cardinal has fallen off the collegiate gymnastics map.

Ranked No. 3 in the preseason poll, Stanford has been ravaged by injuries to its best gymnasts and has subsequently underachieved.

The return of reigning Pac-10 all-around champion junior Natalie Foley and freshman Tabitha Yim should provide a much-needed lift for Stanford, but the revamped Cardinal lineup doesn’t figure to faze UCLA.

“They have an extremely talented team,” Kondos Field said, “and I heard (Stanford) has been holding back some of its injured gymnasts so they could compete them against us, but we’re not going to change our game plan for them.”

And if the Bruins can continue to implement their newfound approach against the Cardinal, they feel very confident about their chances in today’s competition.

“I think we’ll do really well,” Kondos Field added.