The Waves led by a point with just two singles courts left up for grabs at the Los Angeles Tennis Center.

No. 63 redshirt sophomore Emon van Loben Sels and junior Gianluca Ballotta needed to win their matches to erase their team’s two-match skid.

But the final of Sunday’s seven tiebreakers ultimately broke the Bruins.

Though van Loben Sels won his first set 7-6(5), Linus Carlsson Halldin rallied to win the second 6-4 and the third 7-6(3), cementing a 4-2 UCLA men’s tennis (2-5) loss at the hands of No. 25 Pepperdine (6-4). The Bruins have now lost three in a row, five of their last six and all four matches against ranked opponents.

“We’re giving teams fits, but we’re not able to get over the finish line,” said coach Billy Martin.

With UCLA’s highest-ranked singles player, No. 12 sophomore Spencer Johnson, out due to injury, Ballotta found himself in the lineup for just the third time this year – and he did his part to keep the Bruins afloat. Though the junior dropped the first set to David Fix 6-7(3), Ballotta rallied to win the second 7-6(3) and led the third 5-4 before the match ended unfinished.

Feeling uneasy about his game lately, Ballotta said Sunday’s performance gave him newfound confidence.

“This match proved to me that I am a good player,” Ballotta said. “I still have it.”

Freshman Kaylan Bigun moved up to court two for the first time in his collegiate career and delivered his first singles win – a wire-to-wire 6-2, 6-3 victory over No. 32 Maxi Homberg.

“That was maybe the highlight of the day for me as a coach,” Martin said. “He led the front courts with a real energy, which I need from him.”

However, Bigun and Ballotta alone couldn’t do enough to pull the Bruins past the Waves.

With Johnson unable to compete Sunday, Martin was forced to change his doubles lineup. The Bruins, who have surrendered the doubles point in three consecutive matches, failed to secure it yet again despite the debut of two new pairings.

Martin split his No. 17 doubles team of senior Alexander Hoogmartens and junior Aadarsh Tripathi in favor of a Hoogmartens and van Loben Sels tandem while pairing Tripathi with freshman Rudy Quan. But the Bruins still couldn’t win a single doubles set.

And on the singles end, No. 49 Quan returned to court one after missing UCLA’s last matchup due to illness but fell to Edward Winter 4-6, 6-0, 6-2.

Meanwhile, Tripathi came up short against Lasse Poertner, dropping back-to-back tiebreakers 7-6(3), 7-6(5).

The adage “Failure teaches more than success” doesn’t lessen the blow for the Bruins.

“At some point, you want to stop learning and start winning,” Bigun said. “We’re going to get back on the practice courts and continue putting in the work, and eventually it will pay off.”