UA men in must-win situation

"This is our chance to resurrect the season," UA head coach Bill Wright said. "It has not been a real thriller and this is our chance. They're trying hard to be upbeat, but when you've had a bunch of losses it gets on you and I think a win would really turn everyone's attitude around."

Freshman Jean-Noel Lacoste aggravated his groin pull and may see limited action in doubles today when California (9-8 overall, 2-3 in the Pacific 10 Conference Southern Division) visits the Robson Tennis Center for a 1:30 match with the Wildcats.

Stanford will try to complete its season sweep over Arizona (5-10, 0-7) tomorrow at noon.

Although the No. 62 Wildcats are winless in conference play after seven attempts, they are confident that their season will improve.

"We get in the win column and we're in good shape," Wright said. "With three matches left to go we can win two out of those three (and) go into the regionals feeling good and healthy."

Tuesday's loss to Arizona State may have been exactly what the women's tennis team needed before today's match with tennins powerhouse Stanford.

"We had a talk after the (ASU) match and we all decided we're not going to be down," UA senior Khristen Pietrucha said about the 6-3 loss. "You learn a lesson from everything. When you lose you learn a lesson to just fight harder."

It's no secret that the Wildcats (13-6 overall, 2-5 in the Pacific 10 Conference Southern Division) have a difficult match with No. 2 Stanford this afternoon at 1:30. Arizona plays California tomorrow at 11 a.m.

"Playing on the road is going to be tough, but we have some good matches under our belt and even in a losing effort (Tuesday), it was a very tough, competitive match," UA head coach Becky Bell said.

The Cardinal are 22-1 this season, 6-0 in the conference.

"We need to go up there and just fight our hardest and play our best," Bell said. "Stanford is a great team and we've certainly had our problems with them in the past."

"I can guarantee you Cal is going to go down," Pietrucha said.

But as far as what it would take for the Wildcats to upset Stanford, she said, "A lot of focus and a lot of belief."