This post was updated May 5 at 9:51 p.m.

Two freshmen built the foundation for the Bruins’ road to the upper echelons of the national tournament Friday.

The following day, two juniors finished the job and swept the road clean.

No. 8 seed UCLA women’s tennis (20-5, 9-1 Pac-12) swept Texas Tech (20-9, 10-3 Big 12) in the second round of the NCAA championships Saturday at the Los Angeles Tennis Center, advancing to the Sweet Sixteen next weekend. All six singles players recorded a win in UCLA’s victory over either Texas Tech or San Diego State in the first round the day before, spreading the wealth of tournament victory throughout its home stadium.

“Our team is really good, so it’s not surprising to me that it’s very evenly distributed in wins,” said junior Elise Wagle. “It’s great to see wins as equally shared, not a couple people just taking the spotlight all the time. It just shows how deep our team goes.”

While six different players recorded singles wins over the weekend, the same two doubles teams earned wins both days. Wagle and sophomore Tian Fangran – the newly-crowned Pac-12 doubles team of the year and No. 13 team in the nation – defeated the No. 5 team in Texas Tech’s Metka Komac and Avelina Sayfetdinova on Saturday. Komac and Sayfetdinova previously clinched the doubles point for the Lady Raiders when UCLA and Texas Tech faced off in the first round of the championship in 2023.

Coach Stella Sampras Webster said the deuce points were particularly crucial in her top court’s doubles match, and she saw better execution and focus from Wagle and Tian than their opponents.

“They’re (Komac and Sayfetdinova are) such a strong team. … We knew we had to play real aggressive,” Sampras Webster said. “It was a great doubles level, so it was great to be able to see us play with them and also be able to beat them.”

This year’s iteration of the doubles matchup saw UCLA reach victory faster than Texas Tech did, with a 6-4 win Saturday compared to a 7-6 (9-7) tiebreaker a year ago when Wagle paired with then-sophomore Kimmi Hance on court one rather than Tian. Wagle said she and Tian approached the match with the same aggressive mindset, knowing it would be difficult.

“We had to step it up energy wise and everything in order to beat them,” Wagle said. “We knew that it was going to be tough, and we just needed to raise our level. We were just on the same page from the very start.”

While doubles went the Lady Raiders’ way last year, the Bruins grabbed all but one first set in singles for the second year in a row. Sophomore Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer could not finish her match last year against the Lady Raiders or Friday against the Aztecs, but she strolled through a 6-1, 6-2 win Saturday to give UCLA a 2-0 advantage.

Saturday gave Hance the chance to win her first opening set in nearly a month, and she took full advantage, coming out with a 3-0 lead and eventually recording the 6-4 victory. Hance then claimed five straight games in the second set to bring her team to 3-0.

“Today I was able to go out and just play and have fun, and I think that resulted in (me playing) … the best I have,” Hance said.

Over on court four, Wagle found herself up three games at one point in her first set but eventually landed in a tiebreaker against Komac. The junior then left no room for another comeback from her opponent with a 7-1 tiebreaker result.

Wagle said her early advantage in the set indicated she had the right approach overall in the match to win her tiebreak.

“I knew I got up for a reason, and so I was trying to stick with that same game plan,” Wagle said. “Especially in a tiebreak, I’m not trying to overthink that much. … To take the first set is huge, obviously, so I try to stay as dialed in as possible.”

Wagle then found herself at the same 4-1 advantage in the second set, and this time, both players had each grabbed two more games as Wagle’s final mid-court shot bounced and sailed past Komac into the wall to cement the Bruins’ victory.

Every starting Bruin will carry at least one NCAA doubles or singles win into the Sweet 16, a match that Hance said will give the team a chance to show off its talent.

“We’re all playing great, and we’re showing the country what we can do and what we’re made of,” Hance said. “I’m looking forward to competing again.”