Early struggles once put UCLA’s season in doubt.

After opening the 2024-25 campaign with a 2-6 record, coach Billy Martin’s squad appeared far from tournament contention.

Then the script flipped.

Not only did the Bruins find their footing, they captured a Big Ten title in its first tournament appearance – upsetting top-seeded Ohio State, a squad that had not lost a contest on its home turf in 23 years.

And after starting the new year 3-2, the Bruins find themselves in a similar position, but have the chance to change the tides as they did a year ago.

No. 15 UCLA men’s tennis (3-2) will head to Malibu for its second-ranked matchup against No. 24 Pepperdine (4-2) at the Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center on Saturday afternoon.

The Bruins hold a 19-4 all-time record against the Waves. In the two squads last battle, the Bruins fell 4-2 after redshirt junior Emon van Loben Sels lost to Linus Carlsson Halldin in the tiebreaker.

But the sting of last year’s defeat has turned into belief.

“We’ve had some very close battles with them in the past couple years, and they’re definitely a good team,” van Loben Sels said. “But I believe in our team, and if we show up, we can take them down.”

Pepperdine will face a test against No. 4 Stanford in Malibu before Saturday’s contest, but ranked opponents have yet to faze the team this season. Pepperdine beat No. 20 Florida State and No. 24 Arizona State on Jan. 24. and Feb. 1., respectively, dropping just a single set between the two matches.

Prior to the start of the season, the Waves had four singles players on the ITA preseason rankings – then-No. 16 Edward Winter, then-No. 48 Maxi Homberg, then-No. 90 Gustavo Ribeiro de Almeida and then-No. 102 Lasse Poertner and the squad as a whole was also tabbed No. 2 in the preseason West Coast Conference poll.

De Almeida is a new addition to the Waves’ squad, possessing a Universal Tennis rating of 13.47 – the second-highest of any incoming player in collegiate men’s tennis this year. The Guarapuava, Brazil, local accumulated experience on the international stage, competing in three junior grand slams.

Despite the talent the Waves boast, the Bruins’ self-belief, instilled from last season’s postseason run, remains.

“We do believe we can beat every team,” said junior Andy Nguyen. “I feel like from this match (UCLA’s win against California on Sunday) knowing that we have each other’s backs, no matter what the result is moving forward, I just feel like that is going to be the key to our success in the future.”

But as the Bruins head into the weekend, the bigger picture still remains the priority.

“In a month and a half, when conference [play] is almost over, and conference tournaments are coming up and NCAAs – that’s when I want our guys to be playing their best,” Martin said. “I feel good about where we’re at now.”