Unfamiliar stadiums have become the new familiar for the Bruins in their inaugural Big Ten season.

This weekend’s Midwest trip was the latest test.

But the Bruins barely flinched, packing up a clean sweep before jetting home to Westwood.

UCLA women’s tennis (12-7, 7-3 Big Ten) defeated Iowa (12-8, 6-5) by a score of 4-2 Friday at Hawkeye Tennis and Recreation Complex in Iowa City, Iowa, before sweeping Nebraska (12-10, 2-9) 4-0 at Sid and Hazel Dillon Tennis Center in Lincoln, Nebraska, on Sunday for its fifth consecutive win. With the pair of victories, the Bruins are above .500 on enemy territory for just the second time this season.

“The team, I think, was prepared for the road trip,” said coach Stella Sampras Webster. “Our doubles has been staying pretty solid and dealing with the adversity of playing some indoor tennis and away games. … Just glad that we were able to get the wins and just keep building confidence in our team.”

Against the Hawkeyes, the Bruins’ fate rested in the hands of Kimmi Hance. The senior won the clinching doubles set alongside senior Elise Wagle before securing the match with a 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 victory over Daianne Hayashida in singles.

“I’d be lying if I said that I don’t feel nervous when you’re in a clinching moment like that,” Hance said. “But I think, one, is experience. Like, the more times you’re in those situations, the more comfortable you’re going to be. And also, second thing, you got to want to win more than the feeling of feeling nervous.”

No. 2 tandem freshmen Olivia Center and Kate Fakih were challenged early and often against the Cornhuskers. They led 3-2 against Nebraska’s Reya Lee Coe and Emma Rizzetto, before dropping three games to trail 5-3. But the Bruin duo won four straight to secure the set 7-5.

Fakih said she and Center eased up when leading early, but their trust in one another allowed the duo to regain aggression and rally back. And after their two doubles wins this weekend, the freshmen pair could be knocking on the door of the country’s No. 1 partnership.

But chasing rankings isn’t what’s fueling their fire.

“I don’t know if we’re chasing that No. 1 spot. It’s just cool to see where we’re at,” Fakih said. “We’ve been playing together since we were like 10, so we obviously know each other very, very well.”

The weekend’s bouts with Iowa and Nebraska were UCLA’s first against its new conference foes, both stationed more than 1,000 miles east of Westwood.

“It’s not easy, especially going east in a time change is really difficult,” Sampras Webster said. “It’s tough on the bodies because of just having to travel so much in between sites, just a lot different than what we had (in the Pac-12) … So it’s just our first year of this, and you know, we’re going to make adjustments for next year to hopefully make it a little bit easier for them.”

The Bruins also spoke about the camaraderie they developed during this weekend’s trip. Hance said the long drives and time spent at the airport were catalysts for the team’s best memories.

Despite only playing one individually ranked opponent this weekend – Hawkeye No. 113 Tereza Dejnozkova – the Bruins said they approached these matches just as they do every other one.

“These teams and players are playing having nothing to lose, like they see UCLA coming in, and, you know, they want to beat us really bad,” Sampras Webster said. “We got to manage that and just keep, keep believing in our skills, our game, and figure out a way to get the Ws.”