Nannan (Dallas) Zhang, a sophomore from China, was named the tennis nominee for the Class of 2015 Division II Honda Athlete of the Year as announced by Executive Director Chris Voelz of THE Collegiate Women Sports Awards (CWSA) presented by Honda.
She is now designated one of 11 finalists for the prestigious DII Honda Athlete of the Year honor. This will be voted on at the end of the academic year by national balloting among 1,000 NCAA member schools as part of THE CWSA program, now in its 39th year.
"I appreciate being nominated for this award and all of the help I've received,” Zhang said. “I appreciate the help of my team this season and am proud of where we finished. We played better this year [as a team], but I still have room to improve next season to help our team."
Zhang finished the season as the nationally ranked No. 1 singles and No. 3 doubles player. She is a two-time PacWest Player of the Year and was selected to the first-team All-PacWest for both singles and doubles.
She finished this season with a 21-4 doubles record and was 17-2 in singles, winning her final nine-consecutive singles matches.
"Dallas is an intense hard-working young lady who loves to compete,” BYU-Hawaii head coach David Porter said. “She is affable, focused and disciplined. She listens to counsel and applies new information quickly. Dallas Zhang is an excellent choice for the 2015 DII Honda Athlete."
All sports nominees from DII and DIII become a finalist for the prestigious 2015 Honda Collegiate Athlete of the Year in their respective divisions, presented in June. The sports nominees are recognized in 11 DII and DIII NCAA-sanctioned sports; cross country, basketball, field hockey, golf, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming & diving, tennis, volleyball, and track & field.
THE Collegiate Women Sports Awards has honored the nation’s top NCAA women athletes for 39 years, recognizing superior athletic skills, leadership, academic excellence and eagerness to participate in community service. Since commencing its sponsorship in 1986, Honda has provided more than $3.0 million in institutional grants to the universities of the award winners and nominees to support women’s athletics programs at the institutions.