This post was updated May 14 at 9:02 p.m.

Down 5-2 in the second set after dropping her first, Sasha Vagramov fought back to even the score.

The senior already proved her ability to clutch up. Both of the Bruins’ previous NCAA tournament wins were delivered by none other than Vagramov herself.

And while a clinching performance did ignite a court storming Friday, it wasn’t hers. She was relegated to an onlooker – it was her opponent who clutched up.

UCLA women’s tennis (15-8, 6-4 Pac-12) was bounced 4-1 by No. 11 seed Iowa State (21-5, 7-2 Big 12) in the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA tournament, bringing an end to its season. Redemption was on the table for the Bruins, having blown a large lead to the Cyclones back at ITA Kickoff Weekend, but the super regional host ensured there would be no such thing in their house.

“You want your players to experience these big moments, and these big opportunities, and it just didn’t happen for us today,” said coach Stella Sampras Webster.

Polar opposite trends dictated doubles play early on.

Vagramov and sophomore Ava Catanzarite were dealt a 6-0 decision by No. 77 Ange Oby Kajuru and Xinyi Nong for the afternoon’s first result, ending their postseason winless as a pair across four contests.

But via a bagel of their own, No. 7 sophomores Kimmi Hance and Elise Wagle evened things up for UCLA minutes later. The Pac-12 Doubles Team of the Year moved past their tiebreaker woes from a week ago, not allowing a game to No. 54 Thasaporn Naklo and Anna Supapitch Kuearum.

A dominant doubles performance didn’t help with the emotions when all was said and done.

“Regardless of how I did, I really feel it because we’re all so close, we’re all like sisters at this point,” Wagle said. “Any loss as a team is going to hurt regardless of how I did individually.”

That 1-1 split opened the door for UCLA’s third doubles option to do what it had done in 10 of its last 11 matches – win.

They didn’t.

Freshmen Fangran Tian and Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer, statistically the Bruins’ most reliable tandem since first pairing up in March, broke to go on serve at 2-3, but their opponents broke right back and kept rolling. The freshmen took a 6-2 defeat to hand Iowa State the 1-0 advantage.

UCLA ended on its longest doubles point drought of the season, but Sampras Webster said she believed in the team’s approach.

“Everyone went out there and competed hard, they (the Cyclones) played bigger points better,” Sampras Webster said. “They totally understood which way the wind was going and played well with the wind, and we didn’t.”

Though it took both teams until the midway point of the first sets to create separation in singles play, Iowa State ultimately had little trouble getting the edge it needed.

The only Bruin-claimed first frames came from Catanzarite and Lutkemeyer. It was Catanzarite – UCLA’s player with the lowest dual-singles winning percentage – who provided the team’s only point of the day through a 6-4, 7-5 performance.

The true shock of singles play came at court one, where No. 14 Tian suffered her second consecutive loss – and second-ever collegiate dual-singles loss – to No. 60 Naklo, whom she straight-setted handily in their previous matchup. Tian now enters the NCAA singles tournament with her first losing streak of 2023.

“From the beginning of the match, it was definitely hard because it’s a new environment and it’s hard to adjust on court,” Tian said. “I lost five deuces in the first set. She made those shots, which is really impressive.”

Compounded with defeats from Vagramov and Tian, No. 66 Kajuru continued to have Hance’s number, not allowing a set to the sophomore to mark four consecutive frames won against her dating back to their last meeting.

And so the Cyclones stood exactly where the Bruins once stood back in January, holding a 3-1 lead.

But they did what UCLA couldn’t – finish the job.