Yao, a sophomore, went 10-1 during the Iowa Conference Championship including 6-0 in singles and 4-1 in doubles leading the Kohawks to its fifth straight Conference team title and winning the Flight A singles Championship. In the Individual Tournament, Yao defeated Wartburg’s Greg Koenen (6-0, 6-0), Luther’s Bjorn Hanson (6-2, 6-2), Wartburg’s Mark Giesmann (6-0, 6-2), Luther’s Jared Wiklund (6-1, 6-0 in the semifinals) and Central’s Nick Cochrane (6-4, 6-0 in the Championship match). In doubles of the Individual Tournament, he and partner Jake Michael defeated Cornell’s Tom Jennings/Kent Lehr (9-7) before losing the in quarterfinals to the top-seeded team and eventual Champion from Luther, Jono Martin/Brad Nelson (8-6). In the Team Tournament, Yao went 1-0 in singles with two unfinished matches and 3-0 in doubles.
