UA women host No. 5 Longhorns

Karen C. Tully Arizona Daily Wildcat UA senior Khristen Pietrucha and her doubles partner Vicki Maes (not shown) take their five-match winning streak into tomorrow's match against Texas.

In the meantime, Arizona will have to forget about the Sun Devils and focus on tomorrow's noon match against No. 5 Texas at Robson Tennis Center.

"This is one of the biggest matches of the season, but we beat them two years ago when we were underdogs so if everyone comes out and plays well, we'll have a good chance," UA junior Vicky Maes said.

The Tucson match against No. 8 Arizona State, which was originally scheduled for Feb. 11, was canceled for the second time yesterday. Weather permitting the teams will collide on Tuesday afternoon.

"It's (the weather) one of those uncontrollables, but we were really looking forward and were ready for the match," UA head coach Becky Bell said.

Texas, which is undefeated in Big 12 Conference play with six victories,

has lost four times this season. Three of their losses have come against the top three teams in the nation, Florida, Stanford and Duke.

Five of Texas' players are ranked nationally in singles play, with two in the top 25.

Cristina Moros, the fifth-ranked singles player, leads the Longhorns with a 7-3 record in Texas' top position.

She will face the seventh-ranked Maes, a junior who holds a 14-3 dual match record.

The Texas doubles team of Moros and Farley Taylor will look to break Maes and senior Khristen Pietrucha's five-match winning streak.

"I'm sure they'll present us with some problems with depth," Bell said. "We know we're in for a battle."

Arizona (12-5 overall, 2-4 in the Pacific 10 Conference Southern Division) has won each doubles match and all but three singles matches over its last four challengers.