May 8, 2008

New Orleans - Tulane University head women's tennis coach Terri Sisk announced today the signing of Colombian high school standout Marcela Fonseca to a National Letter-of-Intent during the spring signing period.

A native of Bogota, Colombia, Fonseca joins previous signees Lindsay Dvorak and Caroline Gerber on Sisk's first-year recruiting class. The trio will form the foundation for the return of the Tulane women's tennis program which will begin with the 2008-09 campaign. The program, which was suspended in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, had previously won four Conference USA Championships from 2001-2005, and reached NCAA Tournament round of 16 in 2004 and 2005.

"We are thrilled that Marcela has decided to be the newest addition to our Tulane family," said Sisk. "She brings extensive international experience on the Colombian and WTA circuit. She will definitely add depth to our line-up in both singles and doubles. She is an excellent addition to our young team."

Since 2002, Fonseca has been ranked as one of the top singles and doubles player in Colombia in her age group. She was the No. 2 singles and No. 1 doubles player and was selected as number one player to represent her country in the South American Tournament (under 16) in 2006. Previously, she was selected to represent the South American Tournament on two occasions. The first was with the 12-14 years group while the second time came two years earlier in the 10-12 years category.

She has also participated in the South American Tennis Confederation where she completed the 2006 tour in 20th place for the 14-16 age group, and she attained her highest ranking of No. 11 on February of 2006.

Fonseca's best Women's Tennis Association (WTA) singles ranking was 947 in December of 2007, while her top WTA doubles ranking was 862 in November of 2007.

2008-09 Signees
Lindsay Dvorak St. Petersburg, Fla./St. Petersburg
Marcela Fonseca Bogota, Colombia/Colegio Mayor de Los Andes
Caroline Gerber Vienna, W.Va./Parkersburg