Under the Friday Night Lights in Texas, the Bruins’ national championship dreams were put to bed.

UCLA men’s tennis (19-9, 11-2 Big Ten) fell 4-1 to No. 3 seed Texas (29-4, 13-1 SEC) in the NCAA tournament’s quarterfinals at Hurd Tennis Center in Waco, Texas. It was the Bruins’ first loss since April 4, ending their 11-match win streak and putting an end to a season in which they won their first conference tournament since 2018.

And for the second-straight year, the end of the Bruins’ campaign came courtesy of the Longhorns.

“No disgrace to lose to Texas,” said coach Billy Martin. “They’re a very good team.”

With UCLA and Texas splitting doubles courts two and three, the point came down to seniors Alexander Hoogmartens and Giacomo Revelli and No. 10 tandem Lucas Brown and Timo Legout.

The Bruins were in prime position, with their Pacific Coast Doubles Championship-winning tandem up 5-4 and serving with an opportunity to clinch the doubles point.

But the seniors fell 7-6(3). To make matters worse, Hoogmartens – the No. 4 player in the Bruins’ singles lineup – suffered a back injury that ended his night.

“We’ve been playing very well and played a horrible game while serving for it,” Martin said. “We had a very good chance to win that doubles point and take charge of the match from the beginning. I think it was unfortunate.”

Between March 7 and May 2, the Bruins won the doubles point 15 out of 17 times. But that has changed as of late, with UCLA losing three straight to close out the season.

“I’m sorry if I have to point a finger, but Giac and Alex were doing so well and have had a little bit of a setback,” Martin said. “They haven’t played as well as they were for almost a month and a half since La Jolla (the site of the Pacific Coast Doubles Championship). … But still, they did an excellent job for us.”

In singles, the Bruins didn’t fare much better.

No. 35 Spencer Johnson – an All-American who clinched the Bruins’ spot in Waco – lost 6-4, 6-4 to Sebastian Eriksson. Kaylan Bigun, a two-time Big Ten Freshman of the Week, met the same fate, losing to No. 54 Pierre-Yves Bailly 6-4, 6-4.

No. 20 Rudy Quan – the Big Ten Freshman of the Year – met his toughest opponent yet, facing off against Legout. The No. 1 singles player in the nation defeated Quan 7-5, 6-2.

“It’ll be interesting for Rudy to watch the film of that because he can’t play that young man the way he played him,” Martin said. “It exposed some of the weaknesses in Rudy’s game. … But again, if it’s not Emon (van Loben Sels), it’s Rudy as far as hard working, and I know he’ll digest that.”

Martin said Quan was playing deep in the court and was being reactive to Legout’s attacks as opposed to being the aggressor.

The Bruins’ only point of the day was a decisive singles win by No. 110 van Loben Sels. The redshirt sophomore, who has only lost four times all season, defeated No. 26 Sebastian Gorzny 6-3, 7-6(2).

“That might have been the best match I’ve played this year,” van Loben Sels said. “I went out there, trusted my game, and I really played at the level I wanted to play at and the way I wanted to play.”

Van Loben Sels, the Big Ten tournament’s Most Outstanding Player, said he was shocked at how well he performed this season, noting that he’s struggled in the past with his confidence. Martin added that, of all his players, van Loben Sels made the largest jump from last season.

“Nobody works harder than Emon,” Martin said. “His hard work is paying off, and he’s getting wins, and he’s getting confidence. … He’s starting to really believe he can go out there and play with the best.”

Despite the premature ending to their season, the Bruins made large strides this year.

After being eliminated in just the second round of the NCAA tournament a year ago, they advanced to the quarterfinals for the first time since 2018 this year.

And despite a transition to a new conference, an injury to Johnson and a 2-6 start, UCLA captured the Big Ten tournament title.

“Just the way we turned things around midway through the season,” junior Aadarsh Tripathi said. “I think Illinois (and) Northwestern (on March 21 and 23, respectively) was a huge turning point for all of us. I feel like that’s where we got our confidence in, and then we just rode the hot streak from there. … I’m really proud of the guys on the way they turned around and staying positive through the tough times.”

At the conclusion of his 32nd year as UCLA’s head coach, Martin says this was one of his favorite teams to coach

“As fun a year as I can remember,” Martin said. “Not nearly the selfishness that I’ve experienced a little bit in the past few years. But everybody had a goal for the team to do so well. They weren’t nearly so concerned about where they played the lineup.”

Martin said he is optimistic about the future of his team – noting the squad’s youth and acquired experience – and emphasized the importance of the upcoming summer.

“Aadarsh and Emon did such a good job last summer, caught up to guys and surpassed them, some of the guys who probably didn’t work as hard as they did,” Martin said. “So it’s a very important time this summer if you really are striving to play pro tennis and to really try to help us win an NCAA championship.”

Martin’s one message for the team?

Work.