A native of Tel Aviv, Israel, Hila Elster is the third freshman to sign wit...
Tulane University Team Page
Native of Israel to join the Green Wave program for 2009-10 season as a true freshman
NEW ORLEANS – When Terri Sisk accepted the head coaching position of the Tulane women’s tennis program, she often regarded her first season at the helm as a year to grow on and gain experience.
Entering her second year in charge of the Green Wave’s resurgence, Sisk obviously has much larger goals in mind as she announced the signing of international standout Hila Elster for the 2009-10 season. A native of Tel Aviv, Israel, Elster is one of three incoming freshmen to join the Tulane women's tennis program for the upcoming year, joining Emma Levy of Princeton Junction, N.J., and Emma Helistén of Helsinki, Finland.
“Tulane tennis received a huge boost when Hila Elster committed to our program,” Sisk said. “She is quite an impressive young athlete, experiencing huge success on the international scene. She has some really nice wins over players who are currently playing for Top 10 programs.
“Hila is very diligent with her commitment to continue to excel in tennis and in the classroom. Hila is yet another great example of where this young program is heading. She turned down some really established tennis programs to help rebuild Tulane back to national prominence. We are all very excited to have her join our family and we expect to see incredible feats from her.”
Elster comes to Tulane with impressive credentials, ranking as the No. 4 singles player in Israel, the No. 323 junior singles player by the International Tennis Federation, the No. 623 junior doubles player by the ITF and the 1160th ranked singles player by the World Tennis Association.
A 2007 graduate of Rothberg, Ramat Hasharon, Elster has participated in numerous international matches, advancing to the round of 16 in the 43rd Coffee Bowl in Costa Rica in 2007 and the Copa Gatorade in Venezuela in 2006. Elster also advanced to the semifinals in the 2004 Fergana cub in Uzbekistan and made it to the finals of the Israel ITF Junior Tournament in 2005.
Elster and the other freshmen join a Green Wave program which is slated to return seven letterwinners – including first-team All-Conference USA honoree and Louisiana Sports Writers Association Freshman of the Year Mariam Kurdadze – from the 2008-09 team which finished its first season back on the court 12-12 on the year and 3-4 in Conference USA play.
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