By
David Stevenson
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Team sends off lone senior
Tomorrow's men's tennis match is "Senior Day" and "Fan Appreciation Day."
But maybe more importantly, the Wildcats' season-ending contest will be a chance to exact revenge on Arizona State.
Before the regular-season finale tomorrow at Robson Tennis Center, No. 38 Arizona will send off the team's lone senior, Jari Niskala.
Niskala said he's hyped to enter "The Cage."
"(Robson) is called 'The Cage' because were surrounded by fences and the court is low," he said. "It's going to be unfortunate for someone to get called in with me (tomorrow)."
Former UA tennis player Michel Stopa played his final match last year, and remembers Niskala's career with pride.
"No matter how bad he feels, no matter how down he is, he fights until the end and leaves it all out on the court," Stopa said. "This is a perfect definition of a successful college career."
While tomorrow will belong to Niskala, the Wildcats (12-8 overall, 2-5 in Pacific 10 Conference) head to Ojai, Calif., next week for the Pac-10 Championships.
The rest of the team is pulling for its off-court leader.
"It's the last home match of his career, we've got to win for him since he's a senior and it's Senior Day," sophomore Brian Jackson said.
The task won't be easy against the No. 34 Sun Devils (9-11, 3-4), a team that defeated UA 5-2 on Feb. 27 in Tempe.
Niskala said the UA faithful should expect something different tomorrow.
"We're pretty evenly matched every year since it's a grudge match," he said. "We've got to beat ASU."
In order to prevail against the Sun Devils, the team will have to knock off No. 64 Matt Klinger and No. 67 Nic Dubey, the top two players in ASU's singles lineup.
Junior Steve Capriati and freshman Carl Hagman will likely face them after recovering from health problems during the week. Both practiced lightly on Monday and Tuesday and will play.
Hagman said a solid week of practice coupled with the team's overall conditioning will give UA an advantage.
"In terms of a fitness standpoint, we're one of the strongest teams in the nation, and that gives us an edge," Hagman said.
Tomorrow's match - dubbed "Fan Appreciation Day" - will feature a prematch clinic starting at 11 a.m. The match begins at noon.
