With two home matches left, the 4th-ranked UA women's tennis team has nearly sealed a bid into the NCAA Tournament, but will have to wait until April 29 for the official results.

With a top-10 ranking, the Wildcats can bypass the West Regional and get an automatic berth into the tournament.

"I would venture to say that Arizona is in regardless of how they finish the season. They have too many good wins to offset those losses," said Tim Curry, the Intercollegiate Tennis Association media coordinator.

The national championship will be held at Florida State University in Tallahassee in late May, but the dates have yet to be announced.

Arizona (18-3 overall, 7-2 in the Pacific 10 Conference) takes on New Mexico today at 2 p.m. at the Robson Tennis Center.

The Wildcats' final home match is Saturday against Arizona State at 1 p.m. at Robson.

Regardless of the outcome of these final two matches, the team has secured the best record in head coach Becky Bell's 11-year career at Arizona, surpassing last year's 16-7 mark.

On April 29, the NCAA tennis committee will announce the 10 teams that are in the tournament and their subsequent seedings. The remaining six spots in the tournament are decided by regional tournaments around the country.

The Wildcats lost their first home match Saturday 7-2 to 2nd-ranked Stanford.

"We have only lost one match at home, so we want to keep that advantage," UA head coach Becky Bell said. "We have two matches to go, so we are just going to take New Mexico first. They have a solid team and have played some good matches."

The Lobos (13-8 overall) are currently unranked and are coming off a 5-4 loss to Baylor and a match at ASU yesterday.

All-American Vicky Maes (41-6 overall, 20-1 in dual match play) has been hampered by a sore muscle in her right forearm, and could sit out her first match of the year.

"Vicky's arm is hurting her, so we are taking it day by day. It has been bugging her," Bell said.

Senior Olivia Gravereaux, who was supposed to fight Maes for the No. 1 singles position before having wrist surgery on her right hand, played in her first competition Saturday. Paired with Maes, the two lost 6-3, 6-4 to Stanford's No. 1 doubles team.

"She (Gravereaux) will play doubles. There wasn't any pain (after Saturday's match), with her it is just getting sharp again more than anything," Bell said.