The national championship came down to inches — literally.

On championship point for UCLA, at 5-3 in the final set of the final match, Adrien Puget came to the net and returned backhand volley. But his foot touched the net, the chair umpire ruled, giving a gift point to Virginia and tying the game at 40-40.

That was the only chance top-ranked UCLA would get. Puget’s opponent at No. 3 singles, Mitchell Frank, went on to rally off four consecutive games, including that break and another to clinch the NCAA Championships 4-3 for the No. 2-ranked Cavaliers.

But that wasn’t the only drama. On triple championship point, Frank stopped play, thinking the ball was out, but the umpire ruled that it was good. On the next championship point, Frank thought a return was wide, but he kept playing and lost the point on the next rally. Finally, at 40-30, he was able to drop to his knees, with his teammates being able to join him, after Puget’s return that went long. The victory clinched the first title for the program, which had fallen short the previous two years to Southern Cal.

“People kept telling me, colleagues around the country and just friends, ‘It’s going to happen. It’s going to happen’ and all I told the guys is, ‘We’ve got to give ourselves a chance.’ There’s no guarantees. It’s sports,” said Virginia head coach Brian Boland, whose team finished the season undefeated.

Meanwhile, Puget’s teammates consoled him as he looked shaken, sitting on the bench with his head down and a towel over his head.

During those four games, especially on Puget’s serves, Frank’s ability to stay in the rally eventually led to unforced errors and the notable foot violation.

UCLA head coach Billy Martin said he wasn’t watching his player’s foot, so he didn’t see it, but he said he believed the umpire made the right call.

“If he touches it, and the umpire see it, you got to call it. It is what it is,” Martin added, also saying that he’s probably never seen that call in as important of a time like Tuesday afternoon’s final at the Khan Outdoor Tennis Complex.

Mitchell, who is “semi-notable” for dropping first sets and finding a way to rally, erased a disastrous first set in which he recorded a bagel. A break for Virginia in the second set sent the match into a decisive third set that featured multiple momentum swings. Virginia was able to steal the early break to take the advantage 2-1, but UCLA, in the next game, was able to return the set on serve.

The two players exchanged holds until 4-3 when UCLA was finally able to take advantage on an unforced error, putting the NCAA title on Puget’s racket.

“For me, the whole time, I was actually thinking back to last year, we had a tough final last year. For me, I was trying to obviously reverse the roles,” Frank, a sophomore, said with a grin, holding the national championship trophy. “When he broke me to go up 5-3, I knew I had to dig in … And here I am now.”

While Frank played hero Tuesday, Jenkins, a senior who was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player, jump-started the match. He teamed up with Mac Styslinger at No. 1 doubles to win handily over the UCLA pair 8-2. That victory helped give Virginia the doubles point. In singles, he defeated Dennis Novikov 7-6(3), 6-3 at No. 1. Novikov was returning better than Monday, when he lost his singles match. But the No. 3-ranked Jenkins showed the ability to stay in the point, which ultimately proved more beneficial.

The overall match came down to No. 3 singles after Karue Sell of UCLA defeated Julen Uriguen 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the other three-setter on the day. That point tied the overall match at 3-3.

Darshan can be reached at [email protected] and @drshnpatel.