A native of Minsk, Belarus, the 18-year old Vavulina has an International Tennis Federation ranking of No. 112 as a result of her junior U-18 competition. In Tennis Europe, formerly the European Tennis Association), Vavulina was as high as No. 3 in the rankings in U-16 competition.

During her junior tennis competition around the world, she has produced five wins over players ranked in the top 100 and has competed in the main draw of the Australian Junior Tennis Open. Vavulina has won five junior international tournaments over the past three years, posting at least four wins in each of those events in France, Finland, Morocco, Lithuania and Uzbekistan.

"We are excited to have Natallia join our program next year," said head Coach Miha Lisac." Natallia had an outstanding junior career and will be an outstanding addition to our lineup. Our long term goals are very clear and according to the plan we should be aiming to break into the top 30 nationally in two years. I feel that Natallia, together with our current players, will be a big part of reaching that goal."

Natallia is the daughter of Larysa, an economist, and Andrei, an inventor and businessman in Belarus. Natallia began learning and playing tennis at the age of four and is helping her younger sister, Daria, compete in tennis as well.

Georgia State, ranked No. 55 in the ITA poll last year after earning an NCAA tournament bid in 2009, will seek to move into the top 50 this season with a strong line-up with two seniors among the seven players. The team begins its 2012 season Jan. 27 and plays 17 regular season matches leading up to the CAA Tournament April 20-22.

Coach Lisac, a former NCAA player at Georgia State, returns for his fifth season as head coach of the Panthers.