Three newcomers to the NCAA individual stage. A doubles duo that had yet to play together till this year.

Would they be able to perform against the nation’s best?

A singles quarterfinal, a doubles quarterfinal, a singles second-round berth and three All-America accolades later, the Bruins got an answer so resounding it seemed to make them confident in their national championship hopes.

“We were right there, involved with the best, with our results, being able to see that we could compete at the highest level,” said coach Billy Martin. “We’ve got a special group of kids that really want to work hard and shoot for the same goals, as far as fighting for a national team championship.”

Four UCLA men’s tennis players – sophomore Spencer Johnson, redshirt sophomore Emon van Loben Sels, junior Aadarsh Tripathi and senior Alexander Hoogmartens – competed in the NCAA individual championships at the Hurd Tennis Center in Waco, Texas, from Nov. 19 to Nov. 24.

Johnson won three matches in his first-ever NCAA appearance, defeating TCU’s Duncan Chan 3-6, 6-3, 6-4; NC State’s No. 33 Braden Shick 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (7-4); and Illinois’ No. 42 Kenta Miyoshi 6-3, 6-4 en route to a quarterfinals berth and All-America status.

“I came out really strong. I had a good first set,” Johnson said after facing Shick. “In the second set, he definitely picked up his level, and I think he made some changes, and I wasn’t able to implement things that I wanted to. … And then, in the third set breaker, I was able to just calm down and get present and just execute and play a little more aggressive.”

Martin touted Johnson’s pro potential and compared him to the lineage of UCLA stars-turned-professional tennis players such as Marcos Giron, Mackenzie McDonald and Maxime Cressy.

The tournament was also a strong showing for van Loben Sels, who defeated California’s No. 123 Alex Chang 6-2, 7-5 en route to a round of 32 berth.

“I’ve seen Emon just improve immensely. With that feeling that he can win these matches at the end, when it becomes really tight, close, he’s not faltering nearly as much as he might have a year or two ago,” Martin said.

On the doubles side of the bracket, a tandem that had never played together before the ITA Regionals appeared to mesh seamlessly, claiming a spot in the quarterfinals.

Hoogmartens and Tripathi defeated No. 26 Devin Badenhorst and Zsombor Velcz of Baylor 6-3, 7-6 (7-3) and Auburn’s Billy Blaydes and Will Nolan 4-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-6) before losing because of a walkover.

“(Hoogmartens and I are) just really good friends off court. We do a lot of things together as a team,” Tripathi said. “I really enjoy him as a person. It makes it so much easier just to play doubles with him when you’re really enjoying every minute of it, and you’re really liking the person you play with.”

After tastes of success, there is only one goal in mind for the Bruins.

“As a team, we are focused every single day. All of us are working incredibly hard,” Tripathi said. “We can see it in everybody’s eyes – everybody really wants it this year. We always talk about it, and our goal is for sure to win a national championship.”