The Arizona women's tennis team hopes to gain some national exposure against highly ranked teams from around the country at the USTA/ITA Women's National Indoor Team Tennis Championships in Madison, Wis., starting today. But with Stanford and California in Arizona's eight-team draw the chances of playing a variety of teams are unlikely.

With five of six teams in the Pacific 10 Conference ranked in the top 11 in the nation, No. 10 Arizona plays at a constant level of good tennis. But this tournament will allow Arizona to see how they match up with teams such as No. 1 Florida, No. 4 Georgia, and No. 5 Duke.

"It has good out-of-region competition, so this tournament is very important. When it comes time for the NCAA Tournament, they (the selection committee) will look to these results as a factor in the seedings," Arizona head coach Becky Bell said.

The tournament features 16 of the nation's best collegiate tennis teams, with this year's field the strongest in the tournament's history since nine of the top-10 ranked teams are contending for the title.

"I want to play different teams, that is what this tournament is for," Bell said.

Arizona (8-1, 3-1 in the Pac-10) matches up against No. 9 Tennessee (5-2) today at 9 a.m.

The Wildcats' No. 1 singles player, sixth-ranked Vicky Maes, will most likely play against Manisha Malhotra, and both players have their undefeated singles dual-match record on the line.

Maes defeated Malhotra's teammate Margie Lepsi 6-1, 6-2 Oct. 19th at the All-American Championships.

Stanford is also in Arizona's draw and the Cardinal are the No. 2 seed in the tournament. Stanford will face Vanderbilt in its first round match. If the Cardinal hold their seed and the Wildcats win, they will play the rematch of last Friday's Pac-10 dual match.

"We know that we can play with Stanford," Maes said after Arizona lost the last two doubles matches to lose to Stanford 6-3.

Although Stanford is a wall of its own, the Wildcats have another obstacle to overcome.

In WNITC play, all doubles matches are played in a pro-set format € one set, first team to win eight games, not the three-set tennis that Arizona plays in the Pac-10.

"In the pro-set doubles matches we have no margin of error," Bell said.

"If a team starts slow or loses a couple lucky points in the beginning, it can be difficult to come back on," she said. "With only eight games to win, it is very important that we get off to a good start."

Also featured in Arizona's eight-team draw are fourth-seed Brigham Young against Pepperdine and Wake Forest vs. California.

Teams eliminated from their first-round match will be redrawn for their second Friday match and for Saturday.