With the Green Wave women's tennis team slated to return to action for the 2008-09 academic year, Tulane University named Terri Lynn Sisk as the program's new head coach on July 11, 2007. Sisk came to Tulane after serving the last five seasons as the head coach of the women's tennis team at Samford University in Birmingham, Ala. She inherits a program that won four Conference USA titles from 2001-05 and advanced to the NCAA Tournament six times from 1997-2005 before being suspended in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in Fall 2005.

What attracted you to the job here at Tulane? What is it that made you really want to come?

"I think Tulane was a win-win situation for me. New Orleans is a wonderful place to be with the re-growth and the resilient people here and I wanted to be a part of that. Tulane has always been known for its incredibly strong academics, and the women's tennis program has always been recognized as one of the premier programs. So I absolutely jumped at that chance to be a part of the rebirth of this program. It really was a no-brainer."

You are starting a program over, but at the same time, you are inheriting a program that has a strong history, and it was nationally ranked when it was suspended after the hurricane. Is there any additional pressure on you as a coach to try and live up to that expectation?

"Yes and no. I create my own monster; of course I always want to win. I think that a lot of people look at Tulane and they know the history of their tennis program, and they expect it to become that again. So, I think that there is a little pressure involved. But do I think it's going to be a hard task? No. I think it's going to be a little bit challenging, but Tulane has such a string draw with its name. The previous coach and the past players have laid the foundation. Now, all we have to do is come back in a start building on it again. But yes, there is a little pressure involved, just from people's expectations."

How quickly will it take to become a contender in the race for the conference title?

"I was going to say if you're talking top-15, you're talking several years, but winning the conference is another story. Conference USA is strong, but at the same time I think it's winnable. I would say 2-3 years to win a conference. I think it's going to start this first year with the recruits that I'm going after. This first year is going to sort of pave the way for the next 2-3 seasons. Then making the run in NCAA, five years or so, because there are a lot of people you're going to have to win back over to come down here."

What's the best thing about working and living in the city of New Orleans?

"Definitely the people. I've settled in here, and number one, I haven't met a stranger. And number two, everybody here is so friendly and so willing to help and there is a sense of family here, which I absolutely felt the first two days I was here. Walking down the street everyone welcomes me to New Orleans. And when they learn that you're not from here, they just eat that up even more and are very gracious. It is such a fine wonderful place. It is so warm and that's what I love about it. It's not going to be hard to sell New Orleans or Tulane."

What kind of student-athletes are you looking to recruit, especially this first recruiting class?

"I always go for the top five in the country, but I've got to be a little more realistic here. With student-athletes, I've always said as kind of a philosophy, the student comes before the athlete. Obviously, I'm looking for kids with very strong GPA's, because I want my team GPA to be very noteworthy. I'm looking for kids who want to excel in their academic future and who are looking for a future past collegiate tennis. Now, on a tennis player side, generally I am recruiting the top-75 in the country. I feel like that's the minimum that we can take to start this program back up to where we need it to be in the next 2-3 years. That's the kind of prospect I'm going after. Now, that's not to say that I won't take a kid who is now ranked 125 in the country who is just getting into their best tennis and can be molded. First things first, I need kids with strong GPA's and then go from there."

Do you believe the blueprint for success is already in place here?

"There are experiences in the past that I can draw on. I can use situations from the past to help me with this particular program. But I think at the first level when I was at Samford; I believe it teaches you a lot of things. Number one, it teaches you how to deal with the kids. It teaches you how to deal with their parents. I've learned a lot about recruiting. Hindsight is always 20-20. You learn from your mistakes and it's taught me how to recruit. And everybody knows this, in head coaches' positions in college it's all about recruiting. Recruiting, recruiting recruiting. If you can get this kind of kid then your program is going to get better on its own. I think that's been the biggest teacher. And it's also taught me organizational skills. I think to be a head coach at a strong Division I school you have to organize and you have to get around from day to day. I think those two facets alone prepared me for this next level."

What are your short and long-term goals for the program?

"For the short-term goals, I want to get student-athletes into Tulane that can be competitive. I want to have a winning season the first two years. For long-term goals, obviously with the history of this program, I would love to win a national championship here. I strongly believe Tulane has the resources to do it. The school has both the academic and the tennis reputation to absolutely do that. But, we've got to get over the small humps first and small humps are getting student-athletes here, keeping them healthy, keeping them happy, and winning some Conference USA championships."

What is the most exciting thing about being the head women's tennis coach at Tulane?

I went out to a national tournament in Berkeley, Calif., recently just the welcoming I got from wearing Tulane letters was so impressive. I can't even tell you how many of the coaches would come up and say, "Congratulations. Tulane is just such a great school." I went home and got this grin from ear to ear. Just to be a part of this and to know how much respect this program has because of the reputation of this school. That's exciting for me. It's exciting to know that I get to mentor and tutor Tulane student-athletes. I wake up every day and go to work to be a Tulane head coach. It doesn't get much better than that."

There are obviously obstacles from the perception of New Orleans and Tulane University after Hurricane Katrina. How will you overcome these in your recruiting?

"Usually what I hear from parents is `how is Tulane?' or how is the campus and how is New Orleans recovering? It's funny. I find that a lot of people have long term memory about this. You would think maybe some people might have forgotten, but not at all. I tell everybody, I'm 35-years old, single and I came down here not knowing really what it was going to look like. I was excited because it was Tulane. I was a little nervous to come down here on the interview to see what it was going to be like. But I have to tell you, when I stepped onto campus, I just knew it was home. I see it as a diamond in the rough, and it's going to come back to being a diamond in no time.

Obviously, there are going to be obstacles because females are a little bit different from men when it comes to safety. Some of these kids think, `Is it safe?' or `What do we do if another storm comes?' Well, you know my biggest thing is we'll take it day by day. I don't think New Orleans will ever see something like that happen again. But we recovered once, we'll do it again. It's probably a small obstacle, but once people get here, they will see what we have to offer. It's a win-win."

John Thomas Horton, the new women's golf coach, he said that he feels fortunate that he works with a program that has such a history and now he can rebuild and make it his. Do you feel the same way?

"I absolutely feel the same way. It's very exciting to be a part of a program that has such strong tennis history. Now that I've got the reins of the program, you can sort of mold it into what you want and take it along the lines of the goals you want to see happen. Some people say that Tulane is too small and there is now way they can win a national championship. I refuse to believe that. I believe it's all in the kids we recruit and the attitude and outlook you have about the school. I truly believe it will happen."