With Michigan’s No. 54 Gavin Young and No. 68 Benjamin Kittay sidelined and the Big Ten stakes climbing, Friday’s matchup between the Bruins and Wolverines was less about who was missing – and more about who showed out.

Yellow shirts darted across the blue-and-green courts, and the squeaks of sneakers punctuated the shouts of spectators. The smacks of overhand lobs were followed by grunts after every shot. A crackle of UCLA’s 8-clap played on the speakers. Trick shots went amiss. A racket was thrown down. Silence deafened the courts after every lost point.

Then, fists rose in the air, and spectators cheered.

When No. 34 freshman Rudy Quan delivered the final point of the match, UCLA men’s tennis (10-8, 8-2 Big Ten) had swept No. 21 Michigan (14-9, 8-3) by 5-0 at the Los Angeles Tennis Center on Friday afternoon.

“We would think that this was going to be a match where we show up and our opponents are going to roll over,” said coach Billy Martin. “They did not. We had to earn it – and our guys did.”

Prior to Quan’s victory, junior Gianluca Ballotta won in straight sets 6-3, 6-2 against Michigan’s Alex Cairo.

“It’s always nice,” Ballotta said. “I’m very happy that I was the one to seal the deal with that.”

Ballotta and redshirt sophomore Emon van Loben Sels won their second consecutive doubles match – the eighth in their last nine – to light up the Bruins’ scoreboard.

Senior tandem Alexander Hoogmartens and Giacomo Revelli laid the foundation for the affair, securing the first doubles set victory 6-1 against Cairo and Will Cooksey. Hoogmartens and Revelli also catapulted the Bruins to a 3-0 lead after 6-4, 6-3 and 6-2, 6-3 wins, respectively, in singles.

Though court two – comprised of Quan and No. 24 Spencer Johnson – fell in doubles to Mert Oral and Bjorn Swenson 6-1, it marked a different kind of win. Johnson made his first appearance on the court since Feb. 2 after being unavailable due to injury.

“I was happy to get to play for my team again,” Johnson said. “Of course, it’s not going to be my best tennis after about a two-month break.”

Martin added that Johnson is experiencing a learning curve in his return to the court just ahead of the postseason – beginning with the Big Ten tournament, which commences April 24.

“If everything still goes well with his injury, … I’m tickled to have him back,” Martin said. “He is such a leader for us.”

And with four matches left in the regular season after Friday’s win, Martin said there is no room for mistakes.

“At this point in time, there’s nothing more important than us getting a W,” Martin said. “Winning these matches, getting good confidence, being disciplined – all the things we’ve been working on, they have to be coming to fruition.”