2023-24 Women's Tennis Roster
Roster
Sakar, Melissa
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
Melissa Sakar
- Class:
- Graduate Student
- Hometown:
- Lauderdale Lakes, Fla.
- High School:
- American Heritage
- Prev School:
- Columbia
Bio
Sakar Features
Columbia Duo Cherishing New Opportunities (GoHuskies.com; Feb. 23, 2023)
Joined the Huskies after completing her undergraduate studies at Columbia, majoring in Sustainable Development, and is now pursuing a Masters of International Relations. A native of Lauderdale Lakes, Florida, Sakar put together a 57-21 singles record for the Lions and a 34-9 dual record.
At Columbia, was a founding member of the Pre-Law Athletic Club, President of Columbia Japan Society, and on the executive board of FAST (Female Athletes Stand Together), and was on the Dean’s List two years.
2023-24 (Graduate Student at Washington)
2019-20 (2nd Year At Columbia - Shortened due to Covid-19)
Born in Lauderdale Lakes, Fla. … parents are Mehmet and Keiko Sakar … father is Turkish and mother is Japanese … speaks both Turkish and Japanese and has traveled to both countries many times … 2018 graduate of American Heritage High School in Delray Beach, Fla. where she played four years of varsity tennis for Head Coach Brian Schleifer … a Blue Chip recruit coming out of high school, ranked in the top-15 nationally, by TennisRecruiting.net … ranked among the nation’s top-20 players in the Class of 2018 … rated the No. 1 player in the state of Florida and No. 2 player in the Southeast for the Class of 2018 … undefeated in singles play at the National Team Championships in Claremont, Calif. … Fort Myers Level 3 national champion … Level 2 national finalist in Lake Worth, Fla. … accumulated a 29-5 overall USTA record … three-time Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel All-Palm Beach County pick … at the high school level, won the 2018 individual singles state title and captured the doubles title while leading American Heritage to the 2018 Class 2A Florida State championship as a senior in 2018 … guided the Stallions to four consecutive Class 2A Florida state championship appearances (2015-18).
Columbia Duo Cherishing New Opportunities (GoHuskies.com; Feb. 23, 2023)
Joined the Huskies after completing her undergraduate studies at Columbia, majoring in Sustainable Development, and is now pursuing a Masters of International Relations. A native of Lauderdale Lakes, Florida, Sakar put together a 57-21 singles record for the Lions and a 34-9 dual record.
At Columbia, was a founding member of the Pre-Law Athletic Club, President of Columbia Japan Society, and on the executive board of FAST (Female Athletes Stand Together), and was on the Dean’s List two years.
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SEASON-BY-SEASON HIGHLIGHTS |
2023-24 (Graduate Student at Washington)
- Finished the season with a 19-7 singles record primarily at the No. 4 spot
- Played a majority of the season at No. 3 doubles with Catherine Gagnon where the pair earned a 7-5 record; also earned a 4-3 record with partner Dariya Detkovskaya
- Defeated 66th ranked UCLA doubles pair with partner Catherine Gagnon
- Ranked at No. 116 the week of Feb. 20 after defeating No. 33 Abrams (NC State)
- Made a big contribution in her first season on the squad, going 19-12 overall in singles and 13-10 in dual matches, with a 10-7 mark at No. 5 and 3-3 mark at No. 6.
- Clinched UW’s first NCAA tourney win in four years with a 7-5, 7-6 (3) win over Arkansas’ Kacie Harvey at No. 6 singles on May 5.
- Huge three-set wins against UCLA and USC as UW got its first sweep of the two schools since 2003, beating Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer of UCLA to clinch that win, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, then outlasted USC’s 124th-ranked Emma Charney, 1-6, 7-5, 6-0.
- Also clinched the 5-2 road win at Baylor, beating Paula Baranano, 6-1, 2-6, 7-5.
- Was 6-2 in singles play in the fall, going 3-0 at the Husky Invite with wins over Jo-Yee Chan of Oregon and Fifa Kumhom of Washington State.
- In doubles, was 11-2 on the season, going 4-0 in dual play.
- Was 2-0 with Hikaru Sato at No. 3 doubles, beating duos from San Jose State and Hawaii in the opening week of the season.
- Also was 2-0 with Jennifer Kerr, getting wins over Portland and Portland State.
- In the fall, made the round of 16 at ITA NW Regionals in doubles with Sato.
- Earned Academic All-Ivy League honors for the first time in her career
- Served as team captain
- Saw action primarily at the No. 2, 3, and 4 singles positions and No. 1, 2, and 3 doubles positions
- Clutch performer who won a variety of clinch matches on the year
- Accumulated a 16-10 overall record
- Went 12-4 in dual matches and led the Lions with a team-best 6-1 Ivy League record
- Combined for a 6-16 overall doubles record
- Went 4-7 overall with teammate Rachele Rimondini and 2-8 with teammate Akanksha Bhan.
2019-20 (2nd Year At Columbia - Shortened due to Covid-19)
- In Covid-shortened season, led the Lions with a 21-2 overall singles record and 12-8 combined doubles record
- Played primarily at the No. 2 and No. 3 singles positions
- Led the Lions in wins (21), dual match wins (9), and winning percentage (.913)
- Finished 9-0 in dual matches and 12-2 in tournament play
- Concluded year on 11-match singles win streak from Nov. 2 through Feb. 28
- Went 5-0 at No. 3 singles and 3-0 at No. 2 singles
- Teamed with Christie Wan for an 8-4 doubles record
- Went 1-2 in doubles with Shivani Amineni, 1-0 with Jennifer Kerr, 2-1 vs. Julia Haynes and 0-1 vs. Michelle Xu
- Advanced to the Northeast Regional semifinals
- Won Northwestern Wildcat Invitational B singles title
- Won Staten Island singles title at Columbia Invitational
- Defeated one nationally-ranked opponent on the year: Boston College’s Yufei Long.
- A 20-9 overall singles record and 12-7 overall doubles record
- Saw action primarily at the No. 4 singles position (8-5) and No. 3 doubles position with teammate Jennifer Kerr
- Led the Lions in singles victories (20) and dual match singles victories (13)
- Went 7-4 in tournament play, 4-3 in Ivy League matches
- Teamed with Jennifer Kerr for a 6-4 overall doubles record and 3-2 record at No. 3 doubles.
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HIGH SCHOOL AND PERSONAL |
Born in Lauderdale Lakes, Fla. … parents are Mehmet and Keiko Sakar … father is Turkish and mother is Japanese … speaks both Turkish and Japanese and has traveled to both countries many times … 2018 graduate of American Heritage High School in Delray Beach, Fla. where she played four years of varsity tennis for Head Coach Brian Schleifer … a Blue Chip recruit coming out of high school, ranked in the top-15 nationally, by TennisRecruiting.net … ranked among the nation’s top-20 players in the Class of 2018 … rated the No. 1 player in the state of Florida and No. 2 player in the Southeast for the Class of 2018 … undefeated in singles play at the National Team Championships in Claremont, Calif. … Fort Myers Level 3 national champion … Level 2 national finalist in Lake Worth, Fla. … accumulated a 29-5 overall USTA record … three-time Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel All-Palm Beach County pick … at the high school level, won the 2018 individual singles state title and captured the doubles title while leading American Heritage to the 2018 Class 2A Florida State championship as a senior in 2018 … guided the Stallions to four consecutive Class 2A Florida state championship appearances (2015-18).
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STATISTICS |
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Washington 4, Southern California 1 | Big Ten Tournament Highlights
Wednesday, April 30
2025 Go BIG! for Washington Day
Friday, February 28
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Thursday, August 01
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Saturday, May 18
