The Arizona women's tennis team has the chance to make history.

The No. 4 Wildcats (17-2 overall, 6-1 in the Pacific 10 Conference) host No. 23 California today at 1:30 p.m. and No. 2 Stanford tomorrow at 11 a.m. at the Robson Tennis Center.

With two wins this weekend, the Wildcats have the chance to put an end to Stanford's bid for its ninth straight Pac-10 championship and claim Arizona's first.

The Wildcats have not defeated the Cardinal this decade, but this year's team poses the most viable threat.

"It starts with believing in your heart that you can win, really, really, honestly believing that - not just saying that 'oh yeah we could win,' but believing," head coach Becky Bell said. "For the first time in a long time, this team believes it, and that does not mean that it will happen, but it means that it could."

The Bears (8-9 overall, 1-4 in the Pac-10) have struggled since the team lost freshman Renata Kolbovic in January. Her absence has left the top-ranked doubles team of her and Amanda Augustus half empty. Kolbovic decided to turn pro during the winter break, and was ranked No. 22 at the time.

"Cal is a very good team, despite their record. We are not overlooking them," Bell said.

The Wildcats beat the Bears 4-3 in Berkeley on Feb. 17, but had to wait until the No. 3 doubles team of Betsy Miringoff and Monique Allegre came from behind to win their match 8-6 to claim the victory.

"It was a big match because Monique and I had not been in that situation before. It was great that we won, but we lost the Stanford match, and it is going to take us playing at our top potential to win," Miringoff said.

On Feb. 23, at the USTA/ITA National Indoor Team Championship, Stanford beat Arizona 4-3 in the quarterfinals. The match came down to the No. 3 doubles match again, with the Cardinal winning 8-6.

The two losses the Wildcats have suffered this year come from Stanford. The first meeting was a 6-3 Stanford win in Palo Alto.

"We have had matches where one doubles team has played well, but then another has struggled. We need to have everybody at their best in singles and doubles," Bell said.

In their two previous meetings, both UA and Stanford have fielded the same lineups, and nothing indicates that the pattern will change this time around.

"You certainly know that person well, but every match is different," Bell said. "It works both ways - the more familiar you are with your opponent, then you kind of know what to expect, but you still have to go out and execute."

The Wildcats are 11-0 at home, with their closest match being Wednesday's 5-1 defeat of UNLV.

Also on the line for the players, besides a team victory, is entry into the NCAA singles tournament. Players are selected based on their performance during the season, and wins this weekend will go a long way to securing a bid.

"We have had Stanford on our minds since we lost at team indoors. We were so close to beating them there," junior Stephanie Sammaritano said. "We just have to get one more win than last time."