LOS ANGELES — Upset wins from Vivian Yang and Liam Oved highlighted the Pepperdine women's tennis team's first day of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Sectional Tournament, held at USC on Thursday.

Yang, an unranked sophomore from New Zealand, upset #15 Emma Charney of USC 7-6 (2), 6-2 to earn her spot in Friday's singles quarterfinals, which puts her one win away from earning an NCAA Tournament singles berth. She is already heading to Waco, Texas for NCAAs with doubles partner Savannah Broadus, yet this would be her first-ever NCAA singles appearance.

Earlier in the tournament, Yang prevailed in a three-set marathon over Colorado freshman Rixt van der Werff, 7-6 (8), 3-6, 6-3. Yang has a 4-3 record in singles play this fall despite limited action, yet she is the lone unranked underclasswoman left in the semifinals as of press time. She will have to beat #107 Mao Mushika of California tomorrow at 9 a.m. to punch her ticket to the postseason.

Oved, a fellow unranked Wave, also pulled an upset in the first round of the singles draw by beating #54 Alexia Jacobs of Washington 6-1, 7-5. Oved rattled off the first five games in the first set before Jacobs got on the board, then the freshman from Israel held on in the second set for her fourth ranked win of the season. However, her run ended in the next match with a straight-set loss to #36 Grace Piper of USC.

Elsewhere in the draw, Alexia Harmon fell to UCLA's Kate Fakih in an all-freshman battle 2-6, 7-5, 6-3. 

Tomorrow, Harmon and Oved will look to continue their winning ways against USC's Sloane Morra and Anya Murthy in the first round of doubles, which starts at 10:30 a.m. Both finalists and a third-place winner between the two losing semifinal teams will earn NCAA berths at this tournament.

RESULTS

Singles Round of 32
Liam Oved (PEPP) def. #54 Alexia Jacobs (UW) 6-1, 7-5
Vivian Yang (PEPP) def. Rixt van der Werff (COLO) 7-6 (8), 3-6, 6-3
Kate Fakih (UCLA) def. Alexia Harmon (PEPP) 2-6, 7-5, 6-3