Conference championships on menu for men, women

Leigh-Anne Brown Arizona Daily Wildcat Senior Vicky Maes, No. 19 in the nation, gets ready to hit a lob in a match earlier this season. The No. 16 Wildcats continue matches in Ojai, Calif., to get ready for the NCAA Regionals, which begin May 15.

In the engineer room leading the way for the women's tennis team train heading toward the valley will be seniors Vicky Maes, No. 19 in the nation, and No. 40 Betsy Miringoff.

"I'm really excited to go to Ojai and I'm really excited for the freshmen because they have never been there before," said Miringoff, a 17-10 player in singles matches.

No. 16 Arizona will utilize this weekend's competition to maintain a high level of tennis intensity going into the NCAA Regionals, which begin May 15.

"I'm going so that I can build up my confidence more," said Maes, who has a 19-11 overall record on the season. "I'm just going to play and not worry about results, and then I'll come back to prepare for regionals."

The tournament is divided into individual singles flights, and then will feature each team's top two doubles pairings.

Miringoff and her partner, junior Monique Allegre, are carrying an outstanding 13-3 doubles record into Ojai.

"I'm having such a good time on the court, because my outlook is so much different," said Allegre, who struggled earlier in the season with tough Pac-10 opponents. "I've been preparing very well in terms of practicing and I try to stay confident all the time."

The 98th annual Ojai Valley Tennis Tournament will feature various levels of competition - youth, high school, college and open - and offer the Wildcats another opportunity to face Pac-10 opponents before the playoffs.

Since the conference expanded three years ago into an extra playoff frame, Arizona has never had to attend the regionals. Instead, the team has always earned an automatic berth into the NCAA Championships.

"It's a bummer to go to regionals, but on the other hand, we've always skipped regionals and have sometimes been rusty going into nationals," Maes said.

Thursday, the team will match up two singles players against Pac-10 foes, and Friday one singles and two doubles matches will be played.

Semi-final play begins on Saturday, and the champions will be determined on Sunday.

The men's tennis team will also head to California to participate in the Pac-10 Championships before advancing into the NCAA Regionals.

"There will be eight teams going and everybody sends four players to compete in singles and doubles to determine Pac-10 individual champions," said UA head coach Bill Wright, who possesses a 335-273 Division I record as a coach. "We're just trying to get ready for the regionals and then get ready for finals in school. So, there will be a lot of stress on the team."

Most of the team is looking forward to the challenge of competing against some of the top players in the country.

"It's a great opportunity to play some of the best players in the country, and there are great facilities and great crowds," senior Roland Kupka said. "There's no pressure this weekend, because it's just a great opportunity."

No. 52 Arizona will send four players - Kupka, seniors Jerome Oliveri and Mike MacKay and sophomore Jean-Noel Lacoste - to battle against the elite players in the Pac-10 in singles and doubles matches.

The rest of the team will get ready for regionals with matches in a subsidiary tournament against second-tier Pac-10 opponents.

"My feeling is that the three weeks of preparation before the playoffs, which includes Ojai, will give the guys time to regroup after a tough April on the road," assistant coach Bob Helmig said.

The Wildcats have already completed five matches in April - all on the road - amassing a 2-3 record. But, Helmig thinks that if the team stays healthy, the first round of the regionals will prove to be productive.

"I'm very optimistic about our chances of getting past the first round, which will either be Arizona State, who we split two games with, or against Washington, who beat us up there on indoor courts that the team is not used to," Helmig said.