After being upset last weekend by Oregon on its home court, the Arizona women's tennis team dug itself an early hole in the Pacific 10 Conference race.

With No. 3 Southern California and No. 9 UCLA heading to Tucson this weekend, the No. 24 Wildcats still have a chance to move right back to the top of the conference.

At minimum, a split is more than likely needed for UA (2-1 overall, 0-1 Pac-10 Conference) to stay in the top 25.

These matches give Arizona a chance to see where it stands against two of the conference's strongest teams. The matches will not count in the conference record, however, since the Pac-10 does not have 10 participating teams for women's tennis and therefore some results are not tallied by the league.

"I think that we will have a strong showing this weekend," UA head coach Vicky Maes said. "We have to come out and be ready to compete. If we do that then I am very confident in our chances."

Leading the way for UA is graduate student Emilie Scribot, who has yet to drop a match this season.

Scribot is currently unranked, but she has already defeated Daria Panova of Oregon, who is ranked 28th in the country.

"Emilie is doing well," Maes said. "She is unranked right now because she didn't play in the fall, but she is definitely a top 10 player."

With Scribot solidifying the top spot for the Wildcats, sophomores Maja Mlakar and Dianne Hollands have been battling for the No. 2 spot in the Arizona rotation.

Mlakar is currently ranked No. 31, but shin splints have slowed her considerably this season.

Once Mlakar regains the form that earned her the No. 13 preseason ranking, Maes is very excited about having her and Scribot in the top two spots in Arizona's rotation.

The combination of these two players would give the Wildcats one of the most formidable one-two combinations in the Pac-10.

"I think that one to six we are as strong as any team in the country," Maes said. "Once Maja is back to form I will be very confident in every player, at every spot."

Scribot faces a tough challenge this weekend when she squares off against Jewel Peterson of USC today.

Peterson comes in as the No. 3 ranked tennis player in the country.

Both the Trojans and Bruins are ranked higher then the Wildcats, but only on paper ÷ the UA matches up well with each team.

First serve against USC is set for 1:30 p.m. and tomorrow's match with UCLA begins at noon. Both matches will be at LaNelle Robson Tennis center.