Kachar Earns Fourth Straight All-Ivy League Tennis Berth
5/8/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Kachar was a first team All-Ivy League selection in each of her first three years at Columbia. As a first year, she was the 2004 Ivy League Rookie of the Year.
Her senior season proved her toughest, though. Going up against the best the east and the Ivy League had to offer, match after match, she frequently was extended to three sets, and often lost those matches. She played three-setters against three Ivy No. 1 players, losing all three, finishing with a 1-6 record in Ivy League matches.
She never stopped competing, though, contesting every point, and opposing coaches knew it.
“She competed well all season,” head coach Rob Kresberg said. “I think she lost a little confidence [because of] all those close three-set matches, and a couple of new No. 1 players who came into the Ivy League this year, raising the level Milena was required to play.”
Although her finest match of the season was a loss, it probably prompted several coaches' votes. In Columbia's match against Ivy League champion Penn, she played brilliantly against the League's player and rookie of the year, Ekaterina Kosminskaya.
The Russian first-year went undefeated in the Ivy League, never losing a set in league competition. Kachar came closest ? after losing the first set, 7-5, Kachar was up 5-2 in the second set, just one game from taking it, before Kosminskaya rallied to post another 7-5 victory.
“Milena has been our best player,” Kresberg said. “I hope that all of our players can have four solid years like she had. I'm sorry to lose her. “
The 2007 All-Ivy League Women's Tennis Team
(*unanimous):
First Team
*Janet Kim, Yale (Soph., Palisades Park, N.J.)
*Ivana King, Princeton (Jr., Long Beach, Calif.)
*Ekaterina Kosminskaya, Penn (Fr., Moscow, Russia)
Julia Koulbitskaya, Penn (Jr., Locust Valley, N.Y.)
*Yulia Rivelis, Penn (Jr., San Francisco, Calif.)
*Melissa Saiontz, Princeton (Fr., Miami, Fla.)
Second Team
Christine Alford, Yale (Sr., Sydney, Australia)
Elizabeth Googe, Cornell (Soph., Knoxville, Tenn.)
Sarah Lederhandler, Yale (Fr., Miami, Fla.)
Lena Litvak, Harvard (Fr., Bronx, N.Y.)
Preethi Mukundan, Harvard (Sr., Folsom, Calif.)
Michelle Pautler, Brown (Sr., Kamuela, Hawaii)
Honorable Mention
Milena Kachar, Columbia (Sr., Boca Raton, Fla.)
Kasia Preneta, Cornell (Sr., Boston, Mass.)
Jessie Rhee, Yale (Fr., Dayton, Ohio)
Darcy Robertson, Princeton (Sr., Harwington, Conn.)
Nisha Suda, Cornell (Sr., Kinnelon, N.J.)
First Team
Dartmouth ? Meg Zebroski (Jr., Port Washington, N.Y.) and Natalie O'Rourke (Jr., Wellington, N.Z.)
Penn ? *Ekaterina Kosminskaya (Fr., Moscow, Russia) and Lenka Snajdrova (Soph., Litomysl, Czech Republic)
Yale ? Olivia Nix (Sr., Bronxville, N.Y.) and Christine Alford (Sr., Sydney, Australia)
Second Team
Harvard ? Elizabeth Brook (Fr., London, England) and Preethi Mukundan (Sr., Folsom, Calif.)
Harvard ? Lena Litvak (Fr., Bronx, N.Y.) and Julia Forgie (Sr., Santa Barbara, Calif.)
Princeton ? Darcy Robertson (Sr., Harwington, Conn.) and Sarah Huah (Fr., Moorestown, N.J.)
Honorable Mention
Brown ? Michelle Pautler (Sr., Kamuela, Hawaii) and Sara Mansur (Soph., Houston, Texas)
Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year
*Ekaterina Kosminskaya, Penn (Fr., Moscow, Russia)
Players Mentioned
