When the University of Wisconsin men's tennis team takes to the courts Saturday morning, it will be facing a familiar opponent.

The Badgers can only hope history repeats itself.

UW will face Washington in an NCAA Division I Men's Tennis Championship first-round match at 11 a.m. (Madison time) in Los Angeles. The Badgers beat the Huskies 4-3 last year in the first round before losing to Notre Dame.

"The guys are excited,'' said Greg Van Emburgh, in his third year as coach at UW.

The Badgers, ranked 33rd in the nation, are 17-9 overall after losing to Illinois in the semifinals of the Big Ten Conference tournament. It's only the fourth time in program history UW has made the NCAA tournament. Washington is 14-9 and has made the NCAA tournament for 14 straight years.

"They're really similar to our program, a similar level team,'' Van Emburgh said. "We've been looking forward to playing the match for about a week.''

The winner will meet the winner of Saturday's UCLA-Eastern Washington match at 3 p.m. Sunday in Los Angeles. The 16 remaining teams will play the rest of the tournament May 16 to 20 in Tulsa, Okla.

"We have to keep proving ourselves,'' Van Emburgh said. "It's a good draw for us. We need to realize it's a great opportunity to go out there and prove what we can do.''

The Badgers are led by sophomore Moritz Baumann, a unanimous All-Big Ten selection at No. 1 singles. Baumann is 18-13 overall and is ranked 50th in the nation.

Senior Nolan Polley also was named All-Big Ten. He enters Saturday's match with a 17-6 record and is ranked 104th.

Baumann and Polley also hold down the No. 1 doubles spot and are ranked 49th in the nation with a 14-10 record.

Marek Michalicka was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year. He is 22-2 overall, including 11-1 at No. 3 singles. Not bad for someone who entered UW from the Czech Republic at the semester.

"He's a talented player,'' Van Emburgh said. "He's really quick. He can attack. He has a good serve.

"He's helped put us in the position that we're in today. You can't ask more as a coach.''