BERKELEY – Alexander Hoogmartens seemed far from frazzled when he dropped his second set Saturday.

After securing the first set against California’s Timofey Stepanov 7-6 (7), the Bruin veteran succumbed to an early deficit in the second stanza, after which he opted to take his foot off the gas – accepting the 6-1 steamroll – and conserve energy for the final set.

“I let the second set go a little bit, so I knew I could come back in the third set,” Hoogmartens said. “I don’t know why, but that’s how it happened. I kept my focus in the third set and kept my energy up a little bit more.”

And the gambit paid off.

Hoogmartens ended Stepanov and California’s (19-5, 10-3 ACC) season 4-2 Saturday afternoon at the Hellman Tennis Complex, propelling UCLA men’s tennis (18-8, 11-2 Big Ten) to its first NCAA super regional appearance in six years. The Golden Bears’ loss in the second round of the national tournament was their first and only loss at home this season.

“Finally,” Hoogmartens said. “We’ve had some tough years. But we have a great group of guys, so I’m looking forward to playing Sweet 16. It’s not over yet for us.”

Giacomo Revelli, Hoogmartens’ doubles partner and a fellow senior, will also get his first taste of the NCAA tournament’s third round next week.

“It’s my first time in the super regional. Really proud of this team,” Revelli said. “We can do a lot more than just get here.”

Revelli was the second to win his singles match, giving UCLA its first lead of the afternoon 2-1. Neck and neck with Bernardo Munk Mesa in the second set, Revelli ultimately tipped the score to his advantage 6-4, 7-6 (5).

“We were both a little tired, but I think I won the longer points in the last couple of rallies, so that made the difference,” Revelli said. “It was a really good feeling to win that and close it out in the end.”

But before Revelli and Hoogmartens made their dents to the scoresheet, No. 35 Spencer Johnson was the first to crack the scoreboard after UCLA dropped the doubles point. The sophomore was the only player to open singles with a 2-0 lead in the first set before ultimately closing out his match 6-2, 6-3 over Derrick Chen.

Johnson and junior Aadarsh Tripathi were victorious 6-3 in their doubles match. However, the aforementioned senior tandem of Revelli and Hoogmartens fell 6-3, while junior Gianluca Ballotta and redshirt sophomore Emon van Loben Sels dropped the decisive set 6-4 – granting the Golden Bears the 1-0 lead.

Freshman Kaylan Bigun’s 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4) win over Theo Dean put UCLA ahead 3-1, but No. 20 freshman Rudy Quan failed to recover from a dropped second set against No. 17 Carl Emil Overbeck 5-7, 7-5, 6-3 – shrinking the Bruins’ lead to just one.

And when it came down to courts two and four, the Bruins’ fate appeared reminiscent of Sunday’s Big Ten title match, which also came down to Hoogmartens and van Loben Sels.

Once Hoogmartens punched the clock and got out clean, van Loben Sels never needed to finish – UCLA’s job was done.

“It was coming down to the wire. That’s where you want a senior – somebody with a lot of experience – in that position. So I felt confident with that, not overly worried,” said coach Billy Martin. “It’s ironic that it came down to those two guys that really came through at Ohio State.”