Pepperdine University Athletics

HONORS & AWARDS:
All-WCC Singles First Team — 2025
WCC Doubles Team of the Week — (1/21/25, 1/28/25)
2025 All WCC Preseason Team
2024 ITA Southwest Regional Doubles Champion
2024 NCAA All-Tournament Team
CSC Academic All-District — 2025
WCC All-Academic First Team — 2025

BY THE NUMBERS
Career-high singles ranking: #61 (12/3/24)
Career-high doubles ranking: #7 (with Savannah Broadus, 3/4/25)
Longest singles win streak: 8 (4/13-5/17/24)
Longest doubles win streak: 6 (with Savannah Broadus, 10/4-10/22/24)

PEPPERDINE 2024-25 (SO): Was a WCC First Team Singles selection and a NCAA Doubles Championship qualifier as a sophomore ... Went 15-17 in singles and 19-12 in doubles and moved up to the top spot in the singles lineup late in the season ... Achieved her career-high ITA singles ranking of No. 61 after a solid fall campaign ... Played doubles with Savannah Broadus and was ranked as high as 7th in the nation as a pairing ... Finished with an 11-4 doubles record with Broadus, including four wins over nationally ranked teams ... Went 4-1 in West Coast Conference play ... Biggest win of the spring was a 6-7 (5), 6-2, 1-0 (10-3) win over No. 49 Elise Wagle of UCLA ... Qualified for the NCAA Doubles Championship by winning the ITA Southwest Regional doubles title with Savannah Broadus ... Beat eventual NCAA finalists Olivia Center and Kate Fakih of UCLA 6-4, 6-1 in the regional final ... Beat USC's No. 15 Emma Charney 7-6 (2), 6-2 for the highest-ranked win of her career in the ITA Sectionals.

PEPPERDINE 2023-24 (FR): Capped off a promising freshman season after going 4-0 at the sixth position during Pepperdine's semifinal run ... Finished the year with a 12-5 record, including an 11-4 mark in dual match play ... Earned her first win against a ranked opponent with her 6-2, 6-3 win over #78 Lily Jones in Pepperdine's 4-1 quarterfinal win over Michigan ... Clinched Pepperdine's 4-0 sweep over SIUE in the first round of the NCAA Tournament ... Ended the season on an eight-match win streak in singles ... Beat Kristina Nordikyan of San Diego in straight-sets to clinch Pepperdine's regular-season home win over #21 San Diego ... In doubles, played with Nikki Redelijk at the second position ... Helped the Waves clinch the doubles point over Michigan with her 6-2 win ... Beat #60 Grace Piper and Parker Fry 6-4 in the Waves' Super Regional sweep of USC.

NATIONAL TEAM: Represented New Zealand in the Billie Jean King Cup in 2022 and 2023. 

JUNIORS: Had a prolific juniors career that included several national singles and doubles titles, 12 ITF juniors titles, three pro tournament wins and a second-round berth in the 2023 Australian Open ... Highest world junior ranking was 77 ... Achieved a career-high WTA singles ranking of 795 and her career-high WTA doubles ranking of 642 in Feb. 2023 ... Won two ITF junior singles titles and 10 ITF junior doubles titles ... Was U18 New Zealand National titles in singles and doubles in 2022.

PERSONAL: Double-majoring in English and philosophy ... Daughter of Elaine Zhang and Reno Yang ... Has one sibling, Lilian ... Career goals include playing in Wimbledon and to be top 10 in the WTA rankings ... Also would like to someday start a foundation to protect elephants ... Chose Pepperdine because "many principles of the school match my expectations. I love the team so much because of the energy everyone brings in training, and I believe I will improve my tennis and be on the right pathway towards my goals. I also really enjoy being around the coaches and the staff on campus because everyone is so enthusiastic about their roles at Pepperdine, which makes me feel very welcome and confident that this is the environment I will thrive in."

FAVORITES: Enjoys studying, running, kayaking and biking outside of playing tennis ... Favorites include Zlatan Ibrahimovic (pro athlete), the Los Angeles Clippers (pro sports team), Meditations (book), Midnight in Paris (movie), Peaky Blinders (TV show), Billy Joel (musical artist) and running (sport besides tennis).