The Bruins’ undefeated dual-meet record will be tested this weekend as the squad takes on its highest-ranked competition yet.

No. 24 UCLA swim and dive (6-0, 3-0 Pac-12) will face its first ranked dual-meet opponent of the season in No. 3 Stanford (5-0, 4-0) on Friday at Avery Aquatic Center, before heading across the bay to face No. 11 California (5-1, 3-1) at Spieker Aquatics Complex on Saturday.

Coach Jordan Wolfrum said she is making sure to prepare her athletes mentally for the challenging competition ahead.

“This is a really great opportunity for us to go up, not just against highly ranked teams, but against some of the best swimmers and divers in the world,” Wolfrum said. “Our theme around our dual meets this year has really been winning habits, grit and just putting some pride on the line and seeing what we can do with it.”

The Bruins will continue their mental strategy, one that has led to much of their success in other dual meets this season, according to Wolfrum.

“We’re treating it like any other meet,” said sophomore swimmer Mia Chang. “Nothing special – going into it with a good mindset of having fun and just swinging for each other.”

Originally from the Bay Area, senior swimmer Sophia Kosturos said she is particularly excited about this weekend’s meets in Northern California.

Against Stanford last year, Kosturos recorded two third-place finishes in the 100-yard backstroke and the 100-yard freestyle, and she was a part of a pair of second-place relay teams. Against Cal, she finished third in the 100-yard backstroke and fifth in the 100-yard freestyle.

“I want to go up to Cal and Stanford and give them a big run for their money,” Kosturos said. “They never really expect much from us, but I think that we have inched closer to them every year, and I think this year, we could be the closest we’ve ever been, and I think we could do something special.”

With the back-to-backs scheduled this weekend, the Bruins will look to recover Friday night between meets.

Wolfrum said she is focused on managing the emotions of the weekend.

“It’s (about) being able to gear back all the way up mentally and emotionally when you’re going against two intense teams,” Wolfrum said. “So our goal is we don’t want to be all big and rah rah rah at the end of that (the Stanford) one, because we’re going to have to get that going again on Saturday.”

Against both opponents, Wolfrum feels the team is best situated for success in the freestyle portion, specifically in the 1000-yard, 500-yard and 50-yard events.

“When we go over to Berkeley, I think it’s really going to be a battle of depth,” Wolfrum said. “Who can get as many second places and third places. The first-place finishes are important, but equally important is second and third.”

The Bruin divers faced off against Stanford’s just two weeks ago at the Bruin Diving Invitational. Sophomore Zoe Jespersgaard finished ahead of both Stanford divers in the 1-meter dive, and senior Hannah Butler finished between two Stanford divers in the 3-meter dive.

The Bruins will have the chance to avenge last season’s losses against Cal and Stanford as they look to pull off a pair of upsets.