A victory cry, a court storming, a chorus of jubilation – all the moments characteristic of what the Bruins had achieved exactly one month earlier.

“It’s one of my happiest moments of my tennis career,” said freshman Fangran Tian.

They had done it again.

In a four-hour-plus thriller, No. 24 UCLA women’s tennis (11-6, 5-4 Pac-12) upended No. 5 Pepperdine (13-3, 4-0 WCC) at the Los Angeles Tennis Center on Wednesday via a 4-3 decision, snapping the Waves’ 10-match hot streak. The Bruins then started a winning streak of their own Friday with a 4-0 triumph over Oregon (11-8, 4-5) in Eugene.

Having knocked off then-No. 4 Ohio State also at home earlier in the season, the Bruins added a second infinity stone to their gauntlet of top-five wins, making a major stride toward the NCAA tournament in the process.

The latest edition of a burgeoning UCLA-Pepperdine rivalry came down to none other than a newcomer for the clincher.

And it was exactly who the Bruins wanted in that spot.

“She’s (Tian’s) been playing some hard tennis and great tennis. She’s just done a good job of coming out and performing,” said coach Stella Sampras Webster. “I can definitely tell she’s a little tired, but she fights and competes like the best – better than anyone.”

With the match knotted at three apiece thanks to a comeback victory from freshman Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer, No. 19 Tian found herself only just beginning a decisive third set. She had outlasted No. 11 Janice Tjen in the first frame to a 7-6(1) tune but ended up on the wrong end of another tight set when she dropped the second 6-7(6-8).

Now carrying a 14-0 record in dual-singles play, there’s very little Tian hasn’t done in her first season with UCLA, but emerging victorious after losing a second set was lightly trodden ground for her. She had only done so twice before.

Regardless, she refused to lose, stealing a game from Tjen to go on serve up 4-3 and breaking once again to clinch an upset worth screaming about.

But before Tian had her singles moment, she first did her part in helping the Bruins secure a key 1-0 advantage.

In tandem with Lutkemeyer at court three, Tian dished out a 6-1 shellacking to Pepperdine’s Anna Campana and Nikki Redelijk, matching the most lopsided win of their young partnership. And with a 6-4 win against Oregon’s Myah Petchey and Karin Young two days later, the freshman duo improved its record together to 6-0.

“Every team is tough, so we’ve been lucky to have them and count on them to really fight and know that they’re going to compete super hard,” Sampras Webster said.

Lutkemeyer and Tian’s victory against Pepperdine set the stage for UCLA’s top doubles pair, No. 6 sophomores Kimmi Hance and Elise Wagle, to put the collegiate tennis landscape on notice. With a 6-3 dethroning of No. 1 Savannah Broadus and Tjen, they did just that.

The Bruins struggled early on against the loaded upper half of the Waves’ singles lineup, all three of which reside in the top 30 of the ITA singles rankings. Sophomore Ava Catanzarite and No. 106 Hance both fell in straight sets on courts two and three to No. 30 Lisa Zaar and No. 18 Broadus, respectively.

In a 3-2 hole, UCLA had to climb its way out of near defeat just to put the ball on Tian’s racket, but once it did, it was all the freshman standout from there.

“I feel like the whole crowd – my teammates, also the men’s team – their cheering for me really helped me stay in the match,” Tian said. “I just think about them. I have to do it for them.”

The Bruins commenced the ceremonies against the Ducks by claiming their seventh consecutive doubles point. Lutkeyemer and Tian rallied from down 4-3 to deliver the day’s first result with a 6-4 win, while Hance and Wagle enjoyed a smoother 6-2 ride to victory.

The sharp start translated into singles play, with Hance leading the charge and Catanzarite following suit en route to the sweep. Between their straight-set victories, the two sophomores surrendered just four games.

“I knew today I was going to have to stay really mentally tough to win, and I just had to make more balls than the other girl,” Hance said. “That’s what I did, and it worked.”

Tian completed the shutout with a 6-4, 6-1 defeat of Sophie Luescher, again having the final word in a season with her name written all over it.