The No. 24 Stanford men’s tennis team is going for a clean sweep of Bay Area rival California tomorrow when it takes on the No. 29 Golden Bears in Berkeley.

Back in February, the Cardinal upset the Bears in the “Big Smash” at Stanford, 5-2. The team came out firing and never looked back, upsetting then-higher ranked Cal in front of its home crowd.

But the tables are turned this time, when Stanford (11-8, 4-2 Pac-10) travels across the Bay and enters as the higher-ranked team. The last match did not count as a conference match but Saturday’s will.

Both teams have a 4-2 record in the Pac-10 and are seeking to claim third place outright behind No. 4 USC and No. 5 UCLA, something head coach John Whitlinger would be “pretty darn happy about.” Additionally, the teams are fighting for NCAA post-season position, with the winner likely being awarded a more favorable draw in the tournament.

The Cardinal has also faced Cal (12-9, 4-2 Pac-10) in various tournaments this year, and has had the better of the Bears on the season, going 7-4 in singles and 6-3 in doubles play.

But Cal has done exceptionally well at home this year, going 10-2 in dual matches at the Hellman Tennis Complex.

“They play very well at home,” said Whitlinger. “It’s senior day for them — they will be pumped up.”

Freshman Alex Clayton, ranked No. 6 in the nation, leads the Stanford team with a 24-7 singles record this year. Junior Matt Bruch comes in at No. 76 with a 10-9 record. Sophomore Richard Wire is riding an eight-match win streak to a 23-9 record and a No. 88 national ranking.

California is led by two freshman, Pedro Zerbini and Bozhidar Katsarov. Katsarov leads the team with a 29-9 singles record this year. Zerbini currently has a nine-match winning streak and is 24-10 overall. In doubles, Zerbini and Geoff Chizever lead the Bears with an 18-9 record.

“They are a very good team,” Whitlinger said. “Compete hard and fight is all I can ask out of the guys.”

Stanford is coming off two 5-2 wins last weekend against Washington and Oregon. In both matches, the Cardinal lost the doubles point but came back to win five singles matches for the victories.

“We have not been very good in doubles recently,” Whitlinger said. “We have to figure [it] out. It will be a big point.”

Stanford will have history on its side: throughout the rivalry’s history, Stanford is 119-72-2 all-time against California.

Senior Phil Kao is optimistic that the Cardinal can handle the Bears the second time around.

“Everyone played well [last] weekend,” said Kao, who provided the match-clinching victory on Saturday against Oregon in the final home match of his career.

“These two wins have definitely given us the confidence we need to beat Cal. I am certain that we will end the season with a win.”