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(DAILY_WILDCAT)

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By Michael Isaac Jacobs
Arizona Daily Wildcat
May 13, 1998

Tennis teams roll into regionals with confidence

Before the season, first-year head coach Stephanie London was realistic about entering a season with three returning players and four freshmen - a combination that left the women's tennis team with one reserve in dual matches.

"With such a young team this year, it is going to be a challenge and definitely a rebuilding year," London said before the season.

Arizona, however, achieved the No. 15 spot in the country, maintained a top 25 ranking for the entire season and ended the season at 10-9 overall and 5-8 in the Pacific 10 Conference.

But, after achieving team goals, Arizona is approaching its final goal of the season: reaching the round of 16 at the NCAA Nationals. They first must pass through regionals, which begin Friday.

The regionals are foreign surroundings for this group of Wildcats - the NCAA just instituted the extra round of the playoffs this year.

"I'm going in with as much experience as the freshmen," UA senior Betsy Miringoff said.

Regionals will take place at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, where Arizona will be the No. 1 seed in the central divisional playoffs out of an eight-team draw.

"We're going in with quite a bit of confidence and we're going in expecting to win the regionals," London said.

The Wildcats take on No. 59 Boise State, the fifth seeded team in the tournament, in the first round.

Before this season's first serve spun off Wildcat rackets, UA men's assistant coach Bob Helmig knew the playoff brackets would be filled with Pacific 10 Conference teams.

"The team goal is to attend the NCAA Tournament in Athens, Ga., this year," Helmig said. "Considering that the Pac-10 South owns 44 national team titles in the last 51 years, the road to Athens must go through our conference."

But, to harvest a trip to the Peach State, Arizona must first travel to Los Angeles and beat Arizona State.

The Wildcats split the season series with the Sun Devils, as each team won once at home. This match will be on a neutral court.

"We've got everybody healthy and everybody has fresh attitudes for the regionals," Helmig said.

"In a way, we're glad we're playing ASU because we know how to prepare for them. This is also extra incentive for the seniors and the rest of the team."

No. 39 Arizona went 3-9 against the Pac-10 this year - after going winless last year - and finished the season at 6-11.


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