For the first time in Kate Fakih’s collegiate career, her team’s fate rested on her singles performance.

“I was hyperventilating, and I was about to cry because I’ve never been in this environment before,” the No. 44 freshman said. “This was for the team, so it was a lot of pressure, but I wanted to do it for them. I wanted to spread joy around the whole team.”

And spread joy she did – it could be seen on the faces of her teammates who rushed onto court four after Fakih punched in a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 victory over Tianna Rangan, coming back from a 3-2 deficit in the third set.

No. 24 UCLA women’s tennis (9-7, 4-3 Big Ten) stopped No. 19 Wisconsin’s (14-2, 7-1) 13-game win streak with a 4-3 decision for its first top-25 victory against a higher-ranked team this season.

UCLA has won two straight matches after sweeping Penn State on March 30, as well as two consecutive matches at the Los Angeles Tennis Center after then-No. 5 Michigan busted its UCLA’s 22-match win streak at home March 22.

Although the match was won on Fakih’s court, No. 22 junior Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer’s 7-5, 7-5 triumph over No. 5 Maria Sholokhova – the highest-ranked Badger – was key to the Bruins’ success.

“There’s no reason why she should have won that match,” said coach Stella Sampras Webster. “She did because of her heart. It’s all heart and desire for her because that girl (Sholokhova) had huge serves, huge groundies.”

In doubles, Wisconsin took early 1-0 leads on all three courts but failed to capture a single set.

No. 3 freshman Olivia Center and Fakih defeated Ellison Reynoldson and Ekaterina Ivanova 6-3 before sophomore Ahmani Guichard and Lutkemeyer sealed the doubles point for the Bruins with a 6-4 win over Taylor Cataldi and Rangan.

Playing two-on-two has proven to be a strength of Sampras Webster’s squad, with the Bruins winning six of their last seven doubles points. During that stretch, the only time UCLA didn’t have the first point next to its name – on March 28 against Ohio State – was when it rearranged its doubles pairs.

However, the Bruins have seemingly struggled to find the same consistency in singles – despite showcasing four ranked players.

UCLA dropped the first two singles matches – Reynoldson bested Center 6-4, 6-2, and No. 100 Cataldi beat No. 103 senior Kimmi Hance 6-3, 6-3 to put Wisconsin ahead 2-1.

“We felt really good after the doubles point,” Sampras Webster said. “Some of them thought, including myself, it was going to be easy in the singles. And they really weren’t, they really pushed us in every match. Even though it’s outdoors and it’s hot and they’re not used to it, they really competed and fought really hard.”

No. 92 senior Elise Wagle pulled the Bruins even when she won her second set against Ivanova in an 8-6 tiebreaker, but they were soon trailing again after Guichard fell to Johnson 7-6(6), 6-3.

Wisconsin needed just one more victory to win it all, and it seemed in good hands with Sholokhova, who boasts a 13-2 singles record this season and had gone undefeated in 13-straight singles bouts before Saturday, coinciding with the team’s winning streak.

But the exasperation was evident on Sholokhova’s face when she couldn’t find a way to break Lutkemeyer’s baseline coverage, and the Bruin beat her in straight sets.

“She’s really tough,” Lutkemeyer said. “She’s a really consistent, really solid, high-level player. So I just focused on fighting for every point.”

And with Lutkemeyer evening the score at three apiece, Fakih slammed the door shut on the Badgers.

“It’s a taste of the Big Ten,” Sampras Webster said. “Every match is tough. Every team is tough.”

The weekend isn’t over for the Bruins yet though, UCLA will face Wisconsin’s neighbor Minnesota (9-11, 1-6) on Sunday at 10 a.m.

“We’re going to fight for every point,” Fakih said. “We’re going to be grateful for every opportunity and just love it out here.”