Tennis teams look to sweep Sun Devils

Leigh-Anne Brown Arizona Daily Wildcat Senior Vicky Maes, No. 23, returns a ball in a match earlier this season. Maes and the rest of the women's tennis team will play ASU this weekend at the Robson Tennis Center while the men's team travel to Tempe.

As Arizona State prepares for a matinee tennis match against UA's women's tennis team tomorrow, the hometown swingers only have one thing on their minds.

"We just want to kick butt against the Sun Devils and send them back to Sun Devil Stadium crying," UA senior Betsy Miringoff said.

Miringoff, ranked No. 50 in the nation, and fellow senior Vicky Maes, No. 23, will be competing for the last time as Wildcats at home.

"Four years of my life have been played on these courts," Maes said. "Hopefully, I'll play one of the best matches ever. I want to go out on a good note.

"It's the last opportunity for people to see the seniors play. There's never going to be another Maes and Miringoff at this school."

And the rest of the team, the truest indicator of respect, feels the same way.

"I want to thank Betsy and Vicky for their awesome motivation and energy," junior Monique Allegre said. "They really brought the team together this year."

The on-court antics of Allegre are another attractive aspect that characterizes the team.

"People sometimes like to watch me, because they never know what's going to happen," Allegre said. "The ball might go a little faster sometimes and the game becomes unpredictable."

No. 18 Arizona overcame the hostile confines of the Whiteman Tennis Center in Tempe Feb. 28 to beat Arizona State 4-3.

The Wildcats (10-8 overall, 5-7 in the Pacific 10 Conference) don't care about Arizona State's 12-6 record or its No. 8 ranking.

"You forget about rankings when you play ASU," Maes said.

UA senior Mike MacKay, who never backs down from competition on or off the court, was a Sun Devil as a freshman.

"There's no way possible that I'm going to lose (tomorrow)," MacKay said. "The winner of this match will finish higher in the Pacific 10 Conference."

But, MacKay isn't the only Wildcat that carries a fierce, competitive attitude.

"Mike has a great attitude," sophomore Michel Stopa said. "I'm going to try to copy my whole career after the way Mike approaches the game."

No. 54 Arizona enters tomorrow's noon match in Tempe at 6-10 while No. 35 Arizona State is 8-10. But, both teams hold identical 3-8 Pac-10 records.

After the Sun Devils came to Tucson and, ultimately were sent home with a 4-3 defeat Feb. 27, excuses began to fly.

"Last time I went up to Scottsdale and read the local newspaper," Stopa said. "they blamed the loss on the referees, the weather, the courts - on everything but themselves, and some players said that all they wanted was bloody revenge."

A victory for UA would certainly catapult the team to greener pastures in the national rankings. More importantly, it would give the Wildcats the edge in terms of conference standings heading into regional play.

"The match will be special for all of us, but then we will go to the regionals, and those matches will be especially tough," UA head coach Bill Wright said. "We could end up playing ASU again in the first round of the regionals if we win on Saturday."