“Obviously with this being our second year back, I thought we did a really good job in a lot of areas,” Sisk said. “One, you know, we got up to number 67 in the national rankings. That was a true sign of improvement from the year before. We went 13-9 on the year. So from a record standpoint and a national ranking standpoint we did a lot of things right.
“The girls will get better every year. We have seven sophomores and three freshmen, so we don’t lose anybody. I expect these girls to get stronger and stronger each year.”
The Green Wave had two players named to the All-Conference USA Team in 2010 and the team advanced to the second round of the conference tournament.
“Miriam Kurdadze was named to the first team all-conference, which is huge,” Sisk said. “She was named to the first team all-conference last year as a freshman and she got it again this year as a sophomore. That was very impressive. Emma Levy got second team all-conference. She’s a freshman from New Jersey. She had an amazing year playing No. 2 for us.
“Both of those young ladies will have a lot of honors bestowed upon them over the next two or three years.”
In addition to getting the job done on the court, the tennis team and several other sports teams at Tulane have been recognized by the NCAA for their performance in the classroom. The women’s tennis team along with the men’s cross country team, the men’s outdoor track and field team and the women’s indoor track and field team all placed in the top 10 percent in their sports on the multiyear Academic Progress Rates.
“There were four sports total and women’s tennis was one of them,” Sisk said. “We were thrilled to have that honor by the NCAA. That was a huge pat on the back. The girls do a really good job in the classroom. With Tulane being a top 40 academic institution in the country, it’s very grinding, very demanding, and they’ve done a really good job of balancing the two.”
Sisk said she’s looking forward to a new season with her young team. Since the 2010 season ended, the Talladega native has been hard at work on the recruiting trail. While she’s looking to add a couple of new players to the mix, Sisk is also anticipating having all of her players returning this year.
“Every year they do this, they’re going to get better, they’re going to get stronger, they’re going to get more comfortable on the court and in their skin and playing in front of a lot of people,” Sisk said. “College tennis is so much different than junior tennis. Hopefully we’re going to have two new freshmen to add to the team this year. You hope to see them mature by the time they’re juniors and seniors.
“We had four losses this year, 4-3, so if we would have won one more court we would have been a top 50 program. Those things will turn around for us in the future.”
