Nov. 5, 2009

Coach Sisk's Comment's Following Thursday's Practice
Complete Schedule For Day 1 Of The Alonti Cougar Fall Draw

NEW ORLEANS - The Tulane University women's tennis team will look to close out the fall portion of its 2009-10 schedule on a high note when the Green Wave travel to Houston for the Alonti Cougar Fall Draw over the weekend at the John E. Hoff Courts.

Tulane is one of 12 teams playing in the University of Houston-hosted tournament, joining Conference USA members Houston, Rice, Southern Miss and MSU, along with Akron, Lee College, McNeese State, Sam Houston State, Southeastern Louisiana, Stephen F. Austin and Tennessee-Martin.

The Alonti Cougar Fall Draw is slated to begin on Friday, Nov. 6, at 8:30 a.m. with the first round of singles play while the second round of singles action is scheduled for 1 p.m. The semifinals will begin on Saturday, Nov. 7, at 8:30 a.m. and the first two rounds of doubles play are on tap for 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., respectively. The three-day tournament concludes on Sunday, Nov. 8, with singles championship matches scheduled for 8 a.m. and doubles finals to begin at 11:30 a.m.

"This field is very strong, but it's not the Auburn Tournament...it's not the ITA Regional," Tulane head women's tennis coach Terri Sisk said. "We've got confidence and we're closing out matches now. It's a pretty dangerous combination when you come to a tournament that you feel you can do fairly well in. We're just looking to bring home a lot of victories."

Tulane has played against a handful of the teams in the Alonti Cougar Fall Draw earlier in the fall season as the Wave have posted wins against the likes of UT-Martin during the Memphis Collegiate Invitational from Sept. 18-20 and against Rice, SMU and Sam Houston State at the Rice Classic from Sept. 25-27.

Sisk was quick to point out, however, that familiarity with a foe does not necessarily translate into easy wins or the knowledge of what to expect from a particular opponent during the fall season when teams are working out the kinks and trying to establish a line-up for the spring season.

"We've played several of these teams earlier in the fall season," Sisk said. "It's sometimes easy to say you know what to expect, but at the same time, everybody is working on different things throughout the fall. Just because we played a certain team earlier in the year and had some success, that doesn't mean that guarantees success now. With every team that's in this tournament, we have to come out ready to play and fight both mentally and physically."

Freshman Emma Levy and sophomore Mariam Kurdadze both earned a spot in the Flight A Singles Draw where Levy will open play against Akrons' Zara Harutyunyan. Kurdadze earned a first-round bye and will take on the winner of Akron's Angelina Jogasuria and SMU's Nicole Briceno in the second round at 1 p.m.

Rookies Hila Elster and Emma Helistén will take on Rice's Varsha Shiva Shankar and Sam Houston State's Giorgia Pozzan, respectively, in Flight B action at 8:30 a.m., while sophomore Lindsay Dvorak will battle Tennessee-Martin's Anna Winkelmann and sophomore Elizabeth Hamlin squares off against SMU's Casey Kennedy in Flight C play at 10 a.m.

In Flight D, Tulane sophomores Caroline Gerber and Marcela Fonseca will play UT-Martin's Belisa de Brito and McNeese State's Maria del Rocio Frausto Cornish at 10 and 11:30 a.m., respectively. Sophomore Sharon Siegel is slated to take on Mecklin Ragan at 11:30 a.m. and sophomore Jessica Lange is schedule to battle Tennessee-Martin's Alice Laing at 12:30 p.m. in Flight E.

"Obviously, I want us to win some matches, but it's always about doing the little things right," Sisk said. "That's what it's always about and that's what the fall is for - start executing the things that we talk about, really putting those into play, moving forward and playing aggressive when you can. I think Auburn was an example that if you do everything right, victories are going to happen no matter what. They're going to happen because you're doing everything that you're supposed to do.

"I want us to focus on the little things, but at the same time, now we're moving into an era where we're doing the little things right now we need to bring home the wins. We brought the wins home in Auburn. Now let's continue to do that here."

Following the Alonti Cougar Fall Draw, the Green Wave return to action on Friday, Jan. 22, when they open the spring portion of their schedule against New Mexico in Lubbock, Texas. Tulane's first home spring match is slated for Feb. 6, when the Wave take on Southeastern Louisiana at 1 p.m. in the Goldring Tennis Facility.

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