The UW men's tennis team (12-3) starts Pac-10 play this weekend with matches against the two top-ranked teams in the conference, No. 9 USC and No. 11 UCLA. Both will be away matches for the UW, which has had some trouble on the road this season, going 1-3 in its first four away matches and notching its first true away win just last week.

"Over the past years, I've been really proud of our team's ability to play away from home," UW coach Matt Anger said. "This year's team has had more trouble with that. But we're capable of preparing for away matches, and this weekend, we have an opportunity to see if we can do well."

These away matches could prove to be even more challenging than usual. Senior co-captain Alex Slovic knows from experience that USC in particular is a tricky environment for visiting players.

"At USC, the fans try to distract us as much as possible," he said. "They're called 'the seventh man.' Sometimes they can be a little impolite, so that will be tough for us. But we know what to expect."

The Bruins will also prove difficult, with three players ranked in the top 65. No. 5 Benjamin Koehlloefel leads the way in singles, but is also paired with Philipp Gruendler as the No. 13 doubles team. The Bruins will be riding him and the other ranked players to what they hope will be a fourth straight Pac-10 title.

Last year's matches against USC and UCLA provided some exciting tennis for the home fans at Nordstrom Tennis Center, as the UW captured both matches 4-3 in thrilling fashion. The victory over UCLA was especially significant for Anger, as it represented his 200th win as coach at UW.

"That was a heck of a weekend," Anger said. "We were able to sweep two great teams in Seattle. It was one of the most dramatic weekends of tennis that I've experienced."

The deciding factor in each match was French transfer student Jean-Noel Insausti, who clinched both matches for the team with a pair of third-set tiebreaking victories. Insausti was subsequently named Pac-10 Player of the Week, the first time a player from the University of Washington received the honor. The second time came just this week, when Slovic and doubles partner Daniel Chu were named.

"I was surprised and pretty happy," Slovic said of the honor. "We've won a lot of matches, so I think we deserved it."

Slovic and Chu share the record for career doubles wins at UW with 80 apiece, and are fourth and tenth respectively for doubles winning percentage.

The UW will face USC at 1:30 p.m. on Friday and UCLA at 1 p.m. on Saturday.

Reach reporter Risa Pavia at sports@thedaily.washington.edu.