JACOB KONST/Arizona Daily Wildcat UA sophomore Kelly Duncan hits a return during the Wildcats last homestand two weeks ago. Arizona plays host to New Mexico this week at the Lanelle Robson Tennis Center.

After spending a week at the practice courts and away from competition, the women's tennis team is back to take on New Mexico this afternoon at home.

The Wildcats (2-1) will match up against the Lobos (2-1), who hold a No. 54 ranking and return four players. Arizona has never lost to New Mexico, holding a 13-0 edge all-time. The Lobos' only loss of the season was to No. 7 Northwestern.

"New Mexico is a really good team, and they just lost a really close match to Northwestern," said coach Vicky Maes. "We're going to have to be ready. We have to play consistent and play to the best of our ability."

Arizona has two players ranked by the ITA, in juniors Dianne Hollands and Maja Mlakar, who hold the No. 28 and No. 29 spots, respectively. They have also combined to form the No. 19 doubles team, and have gone 3-0 in their doubles matches. Senior Diane Larocque and junior Kelly Perry are the only singles players to have started this season undefeated, each at 3-0. The rest of the team, however, has been battling injuries, and the time off the court has helped everyone become healthier.

"The first two matches, we didn't have the bottom of our lineup, but we're getting healthier every day," said Maes.

"We haven't played for a few weeks, and I think the rest for us was good," she added.

According to Maes, the Wildcats worked on being more consistent and playing more points, as well as getting more comfortable and moving around after injuries.

The Wildcats dropped seven spots in the ITA rankings from No. 27 to No. 34 because of their loss to Oklahoma last week, but look to move back up in the rankings after this weekend.