With Cal heading to the Farm for the final match of the regular season, the script couldn’t be written any better.

“Like a fairy tale,” senior Celia Durkin said of Saturday’s upcoming matchup.

As the No. 4 Stanford women’s tennis team gears up for the Big Game, there isn’t much love for the cross-Bay rivals, especially after an early season loss to them in February.

“We don’t like them at all,” Durkin said. “We usually come out pretty much on top. Our match in the fall was kind of a surprise but I have no doubt that we’re going to come back and take revenge.”

“They’ve got some nice girls on the team, but it doesn’t matter — they’re Cal,” she added.

Seniors Lejla Hodzic and Whitney Deason shared the same sentiments, though they were a bit more restrained.

“Obviously, they’re our biggest rival overall, so it’s a match we always get up for,” Deason said. “We’ve had tough matches with them all four years I’ve been here — they’re a tough team.”

“Well it’s always a rivalry,” Hodzic said. “The Stanford-Cal rivalry has always existed. We’re especially pumped up because we lost to them at Cal, so it’s going to be fun.”

Add in Lele Forood, head coach for eight years, whose Cal sentiments are fairly obvious.

“She loves the rivalry, absolutely loves it,” Durkin said. “Coach hates Cal a lot — especially after we lost to them in the winter.”

As both teams are tied atop the Pac-10 standings, the winner will walk away with the Pac-10 title — something the Cardinal women have yet to relinquish in 21 seasons.

Moreover, Stanford is currently 130-0 in the last eight years at home, including regular and post-season play.

The team’s last home loss: Feb. 27, 1999, when No. 4 Cal took down the Cardinal in a 5-4 upset.

Playing on the Farm this time around, the Cardinal women have home court advantage on their side, something they lacked in February.

“We feel confident playing on our home court,” Deason said. “We bring confidence and a good fight every time we go on the court.”

The match is especially important to a Cardinal squad that seemed to have lost its way earlier in the season.

“It’s kind of culminated to this point because of the nature of this season,” Hodzic said. “We had a rocky start to the season and we really built back up, so this is the culminating point of the season so far. It’s a lot of things coming together for the seniors and we’re playing Cal at home.”

The losses came early in the season, a shocker to a Cardinal team that once boasted an 89-match win streak.

After a loss to Arizona State — its fourth of the season which marked the program’s first four-loss season since 1987 — Stanford decided it was time to work harder as a team, which led to a key sweep of Southern California and UCLA at home.

“We did have a rocky start to the season because of injuries and illnesses,” Hodzic said. “Despite the problems, we really stayed connected as a team and we tried to pinpoint the reasons why we’re having difficulties. Now, everyone’s very excited for this last match before NCAAs.”

Though much of the lineup was up in the air entering the season after the team lost its top two players, Stanford has solidified both the singles and doubles lineups.

And with freshman Hilary Barte dominating her competition at No. 1, Stanford now carries a swagger that it lacked at the beginning of the season.

“Everyone on the team feels good about how they’re playing right now,” Deason said. “We definitely gained a lot of momentum with our play the last couple of weeks and I think we could be better. If we’re in a good place and everyone feels good, good things will happen.”

On Senior Day, no one can ignore the contributions of Durkin, Deason and Hodzic.

All three have brought the experience and maturity needed to guide the team throughout a trying season.

“We try to serve as leaders and set good example for our teammates,” Hodzic said. “But everyone plays a hand in the team progress because everyone’s a contributor.”

Especially motivating has been Hodzic’s revival this season after she battled through injuries the last two years.

“I’m really excited about the end of this season because I’ve had a rough time with injuries and I’m very excited for this team’s success,” Hodzic said. “I’ve been very fortunate to play a lot this season already and whether or not I play, I’m really excited to see the team do well my last year here.”

After spending four years on the Farm together, the three find it difficult to fathom life away from Stanford. All three weighed in on their journey through the years.

“We’re all very close to the team, particularly the seniors,” Hodzic said.

“They’re both really great people, laid back and just fun to be around,” Deason added. “I couldn’t have asked for better people to spend my last four years with here.”

“We’ve become really close and a lot closer this year. They’ve been there for me for a lot of different stuff,” Durkin said. “They really made me feel welcome in their class even though I came in a year late. I value seeing them so much that it’s going to be really hard, but I’m sure we’re going to keep in touch — if not, I’ll make them.”

With two championships already under their belt and the way they’re playing right now, another championship may help with the parting.

“It would be nice to have three out of four in my career,” Hodzic said.

But standing in the way of NCAAs is the final regular season match with Cal.

“It’s really exciting and kind of sad at the same time,” Durkin said. “I can’t even believe it’s our last regular season home match — it’s gone by really, really fast.

“I think it’s fantastic that we’ve lost to Cal, so we’re going to get sweet, sweet revenge on them on Saturday and it’s going to be a fantastic Senior Day.”