The Bruins opened Pac-12 play with a split up north.

In its Pacific Northwest road trip, UCLA women’s tennis (4-3, 1-1 Pac-12) was able to bounce back from a narrow 4-3 loss to Washington (10-3, 2-0) on Friday with a 5-2 win against Washington State (7-6, 0-2) on Sunday.

After failing to nab the doubles point against the Huskies, the Bruins achieved three singles wins courtesy of No. 84 sophomore Kimmi Hance, sophomore Elise Wagle and No. 57 freshman Fangran Tian – the later of whom was able to stage a comeback from a 3-0 deficit in the second set.

“I looked at the scoreboard, and I saw it was only me and AC (freshman Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer) who were left on the court,” Tian said. “We both had to win the match to win for our team. I felt like I needed to step it up for the team. It gave me more energy.”

Tian and Lutkemeyer were two of three players, alongside No. 64 Ava Catanzarite, whose singles contests made it to three sets Friday. Though Lutkemeyer eventually fell to Melissa Saka – ultimately securing the victory for the Huskies – the freshman kept it close, winning her first set 6-4 before dropping her next two sets 7-5 and 6-3.

Despite the team’s loss, Wagle said she was impressed by the freshmen’s performance.

“I think they’ve been doing a great job anyways. … Against Washington, there was a big crowd against them,” Wagle said. “And you could tell they were really mature, really professional and handled it well.”

In Sunday’s matchup against the Cougars, the Bruins earned the doubles point with a swift 6-1 win from junior Vanessa Ong and senior Sasha Vagramov, soon followed by a 6-2 triumph delivered by the No. 6 Hance and Wagle duo.

When singles play began, however, Washington State tied the score, as Catanzarite was taken down by Yura Nakagawa in a 6-3, 6-4 decision.

Tian provided the blue and gold’s first singles victory of the day, defeating Eva Alvarez Sande 6-2, 6-3. At 5-0 this season, Tian has yet to fall in dual-match singles as a Bruin.

“These two matches were definitely a different experience. It’s very intense and everybody wants to win,” Tian said. “I really enjoy playing for the team and the energy that my teammates give me.”

In her singles bout with Washington State’s Fifa Kumhom, Lutkemeyer once again played three sets, but this time was able to dispatch her opponent 6-4, 2-6, 6-1.

Soon afterward, Wagle nabbed her second singles victory of the weekend – and eighth consecutive since the fall of 2022 – to clinch the win for the Bruins. Ong finished out her contest with a 6-1, 6-2 tally, bringing the team’s overall point total to five.

Although UCLA’s first conference win is now in the books, Wagle indicated no intention of taking time to appreciate it.

“It’s always good to win, especially on the road,” said Wagle. “I don’t really think of it as having won, I’m just focusing on the next match, … and trying to win the next match regardless of what happened in the past.”

UCLA will return to Westwood for its following contest next Sunday, a Big Ten preview against No. 3 Ohio State.