CHRIS CODUTO/Arizona Daily Wildcat Junior Whi Kim returns a shot earlier this season at Robson Tennis Center. UA plays host to ASU tomorrow at noon.

The Arizona men's tennis team will wrap up its regular season against in-state rival Arizona State this weekend in a pivotal match-up full of post-season implications.

No. 33 Arizona will be looking to lock up a playoff spot tomorrow when it plays host to the evenly matched No. 29 Sun Devils. The match, set to start at noon, will be held at Robson Tennis Center.

Last weekend, Arizona (8-10, 2-5) dropped both of its matches versus Pac-10 elite squads No. 7 Stanford and No. 3 California. The Wildcats did not play well against the Bay area schools, winning only one point all weekend ÷ that win coming in doubles play against the Cardinal.

Head coach Bill Wright feels his squad will be ready to play tomorrow and the challenge of facing conference rival ASU will provide extra motivation for his players.

"If that doesn't pump them up," Wright said, "I don't know what will."

The Sun Devils (9-10, 3-2) are coming off a blanking of Northern Arizona on Wednesday. The victory over the Lumberjacks upped the Sun Devils all-time record against the school from Flagstaff to 30-0.

The Wildcats are looking to fare better against their conference foe. When the two schools faced each other on Feb. 28, the Sun Devils clipped the Wildcats by a score of 4-3. After losing the doubles point, the Wildcats managed a split in singles play, falling short by one point. Tied at three, freshman Daniel Andrus fell to Ryan McBride in the third; a final set to seal the victory for the Sun Devils.

The match, held in Tempe, saw the Wildcats fail to put the Sun Devils away, even with numerous opportunities at match point. Wright said those kinds of chances will need to be capitalized on this weekend.

"Its huge," Wright said when asked the importance of this weekend's match-up. "We need to beat these guys."

The Sun Devil lineup features two nationally ranked players, No. 81 Pim Van Mele and No. 106 Chris Letcher. The only ranked Wildcat is team captain Carl Hagman, ranked 112.

Arizona has the edge over ASU with a 50-34 all-time record.

Roger Matalonga is also expected to play this weekend for the Wildcats. The freshman from Terrassa, Spain, was forced to leave his match on Sunday versus No. 76 Sam Warburg of Stanford with a sprained back. If Matalonga is unable to play for Arizona, freshman Tim Mullane will take his spot in the lineup.

Next weekend, the Wildcats will travel to Ojai, Calif. to participate in the Pac-10 conference championships. The NCAA national tournament is scheduled to commence two weeks later.