Repetition can be boring and mundane. And most of the time, if something is too predictable, people lose interest in it. That’s not true for this year’s Fighting Illini women’s gymnastics team – all it hopes for is solid repetition.

Minimal injuries and consistent performances have helped head coach Bob Starkell and the Illini, who are trying to keep their luck going strong against No. 18 Iowa on Saturday at 7 p.m. in Huff Hall.

“All we can hope for is to duplicate last weekend,” Starkell said. “If the girls can all match their performances and improve in their weakest ones, then we will be really strong.”

After a strong start to the season, Illinois is hoping to build on its No. 14 national ranking. As junior Allison Buckley and senior Lindsey Smith continue to regain their pre-injury form, the team is close to fielding its strongest lineup.

The Hawkeyes took first place in a quad meet with Michigan State, Illinois State and West Virginia last week. Illinois faced Iowa three times last season, losing once and defeating them in a dual meet and at the Big Ten Championships. With Iowa returning nearly all of their gymnasts and with the addition of the freshmen class, defeating the conference rival will not be an easy task, Starkell said.

“Anything can happen against Iowa, but we had a really good week in practice and everyone is feeling great,” junior Sarah Schmidt said. “We can’t be too cocky, but we can just hope for consistency.”

This week at practice the Illini have been working on perfecting the details in their routines and specifically trying to improve their landings on the bars. They also have been focusing on big finishes.

“The finish is really important because it is the last thing the judges see and it is how you make your biggest impression,” junior Nicole Cowart said. “Sometimes our finishes can be sloppy but this weekend they will be beautiful to prove that it was a beautiful routine.”

Starkell hopes that everything will stay consistent this weekend because, right now, the team is in a “comfortable spot.” By continuing to stay healthy and feed off one another’s success, the team hopes that the crowd will see another win.