This post was updated Oct. 27 at 8:50 p.m.

Elise Wagle won her first collegiate title last year as part of a newly formed pairing.

The same storyline played out once again – this time, with a different Bruin as the protagonist.

Sophomores Wagle and No. 98 Kimmi Hance of UCLA women’s tennis nabbed the doubles title at the ITA Southwest Regional Championships over the weekend, seeing split action at the Barnes and Aztec Tennis Centers.

The crown represented a collegiate first for Hance, who had never partnered with Wagle until the tournament. It was alongside then-sophomore Vanessa Ong that Wagle won her maiden collegiate title at last year’s edition of the ITA Southwest Regional Championships.

“Last year showed how tough the competition was going to be, so I was more mentally prepared to play tougher matches, especially with college doubles against doubles teams that have played together before and have played in pressure situations,” Wagle said.

The first four rounds of the doubles draw were held in a super set format, with Hance and Wagle claiming all three of their matches following a first-round bye. The blue and gold tandem sandwiched an 8-0 victory over USC’s Sloane Morra and Nathalie Rodilosso between 8-5 and 8-3 decisions, respectively.

The last of the trio of triumphs came against Hance and Wagle’s highest-ranked opponent up until that point, the No. 22 pairing of Patricija Spaka and Domenika Turkovic from Arizona State.

Coach Stella Sampras Webster noted that the tournament represented Wagle’s first action since last year’s NCAA team championships and said the sophomore’s return was an impressive one.

“She has a big serve, a great return, and she can volley, so she has great doubles skills,” Sampras Webster said. “It was very impressive that she was able to perform at such a high level without having a lot of match play and competitive play.”

A more traditional doubles format was installed for the final two rounds, as the two Bruins would end up needing two tiebreakers to return to Westwood with the doubles title in tow.

The tandem’s tallest order came in the final, where the nation’s No. 6 team in Pepperdine’s Savannah Broadus and Janice Tjen would attempt to halt Hance and Wagle’s campaign to repeat history.

The old adage would ring true and history won out, as Hance and Wagle assembled a 7-5, 2-6, 1-0 (10-7) victory to clinch the title.

Sampras Webster, whose Bruin teams have dropped four of their previous five dual-matches to Pepperdine, said the newly-struck partnership between the two sophomores revealed promise.

“They definitely showed that they can play against the best because I know Broadus and Tjen are a very successful team, even from last year,” Sampras Webster said. “It showed us that they can play at a high level and be able to communicate with each other and handle the pressure.”

Hance emerged as the most victorious Bruin of the tournament by virtue of her concurrent run to the singles final, yet one set would separate Hance from a path to the singles title match and a first-round exit.

Grand Canyon’s Anali Kocevar forced Hance into a comeback position after taking the first set before the Bruin ultimately snagged a 6-7 (5-7), 6-1, 6-4 win. Hance would then upend another two opponents hailing from Arizona programs, including a 6-3, 6-1 victory against No. 69 Turkovic in the round of 16 – her highest-ranked triumph of the draw.

Hance said the caliber of competition leading up to the bout with Turkovic prepared her to come out on top.

“I had a few tougher singles matches before it, and I really had to earn my way into that position to fight her,” Hance said. “I knew I was in just as good of a position to win as she was.”

With two additional foes awaiting her before a final berth, Hance straight-setted the first and won her third three-setter of the singles bracket against USC’s Emma Charney in the semifinals – a 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 decision.

The last player standing between Hance and her first collegiate singles title was someone she had beat just hours prior.

No. 49 Broadus of Pepperdine, fresh off a loss at the hands of Hance and Wagle, served defeat right back to the former. Broadus stopped Hance two sets short of a tournament title sweep with a 6-0, 6-3 performance.

Hance – who sat atop the dual-match win column for UCLA last season with a 24-2 record across singles and doubles play – saw a total of 11 matches across the five days of the tournament and lost only one, good for the UCLA Student-Athlete of the Week award.

Though she accrued 37 matches on her shared dual-match and tour-level record as a freshman, Hance said the frequency of matchplay in San Diego presented a new test.

“I definitely had to play a lot of matches, definitely not something I’m used to in college,” Hance said. “Obviously, those longer matches were exhausting, and I was definitely feeling it the next day, but I feel like I really worked my way into the tournament.”

As a reward for their winning effort, Hance and Wagle advanced to the fall season’s most prestigious event, the ITA National Fall Championships, which are set to commence play on Nov. 3 at the Barnes Tennis Center in San Diego.