As the season continues, the competition isn’t getting any easier for the No. 45 Arizona women’s tennis team.

So far, Arizona (9-0, 0-0 Pacific 10 Conference) has used its refuse-to-lose attitude to help land an undefeated mark entering conference play with two highly ranked teams ahead this weekend.

“”We feel great with the 9-0 streak, but we know it’s money time and will be a difficult challenge,”” freshman captain Danielle Steinberg said.

The Wildcats start their weekend today when they host No. 11 UCLA (5-2, 0-0) at 1:30 p.m. in hopes of upsetting the Bruins for the first time since 2000 before taking on No. 4 USC (5-1, 0-0) tomorrow at noon. Both matches will be held at the Robson Tennis Center.

“”The confidence is as high as possible,”” Arizona head coach Vicky Maes said. “”The girls are playing as best as they can and (they) keep improving.””

“”We’re going to be more focused. We are pumped to play,”” Steinberg said.

The team will continue to look toward senior Stephanie Balzert competing in the No. 1 slot for continued success. Balzert, currently ranked No. 92 for singles, has only lost one match this season.

“”We’re happy for Stephie, plus it’s better for our team when other teams look at us and see we have a ranked player,”” Steinberg said.

Steinberg enters the weekend undefeated in both singles and doubles. She has repeatedly proven that she is capable of taking on her opponents in the No. 2 spot.

Even with the new rankings, Maes said the teams’ focus isn’t merely on the numbers.

“”It’s nice to be ranked, but we know we are a good team,”” Maes said.