BYU-Hawaii women’s tennis stars Dallas Zhang and Summer Wen were invited to New York City to attend the Oracle Intercollegiate Tennis Association Arthur Ashe All-Star Weekend in August, where they were honored as members of the 2016 ITA All-Star Team.
“It’s always awesome when you’re being honored by the ITA and you can represent your school to play tournaments and receive awards,” said Zhang, a junior from China majoring in accounting. “When they introduce that you are from BYU-Hawaii, it’s a great feeling.”
Every year, the ITA invites the top collegiate tennis players in the country across all five divisions from the most recent season to travel to New York City. There, they are honored at the ITA All-Star weekend festivities, which precede the US Open Tennis Championships.
Zhang was the number one ranked women’s singles player in Division II for the second consecutive year. But it was Wen, a junior from China majoring in exercise science, who gave BYUH the monopoly on the Division II women’s awards. Zhang and Wen dominated the court in the 2015-2016 season, and were the number one ranked women’s doubles team for the 2015-2016 season.
“These were the only two Division II female players on the collegiate All-star team,” emphasized BYUH Tennis Head Coach Dave Porter. “They are the only two girls of the 381 women’s teams that compete in Division II tennis, which constitutes roughly 5,000 players that are on the rosters who are eligible to be invited.”
The girls said they enjoyed the opportunity to go to New York City and to be part of the ITA All-Star Weekend festivities. The events included an awards banquet, opportunities to play on the grass courts at the famous Westside Tennis Club, and a close view of the start Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
“We got a chance to watch the final of the women’s pre-tournament,” said Zhang. “We saw Serena Williams and some of the other top players.”
Porter added, “They get to see the president’s box and sit at center court in the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, so it’s quite an honor. It’s a very exclusive group.”
Even though they loved the experience of going to New York City, they said receiving the award was better than seeing the bright lights of Times Square or the VIP treatment from the ITA.
Although this was only their first year of playing together, the two teammates finished the season without a single loss and a record of 22-0, which resulted in their number one rank and the selection to the all-star team. While they both agreed their talent and chemistry were key to their success, they said it was their coach’s support as well as their mental toughness and physical training that gave them the edge this season.
“No matter what I do, good or bad, Coach Porter encourages me,” said Wen. Zhang agreed, “He gives us the spirit to win and the training to succeed, and he supports us. It doesn’t matter if we did well or not so well. He says, ‘You did a good job. Just keep on going.’”
Porter said the BYUH Athletics Program helped make this opportunity possible for the two all-stars; the ITA contributed to the travel funds, but the rest was left up to the individuals to cover. “Fortunately, the school was generous enough to help finance what the ITA didn’t cover and helped them to have this wonderful experience,” said Porter.
Writer: Patrick Campbell