Hall of Fame
Regarded as "the best tennis player ever to come to Grove City College" by longtime head coach Joe Walters, Srinivasan Balaji helped lead the Grove City men's tennis team to its winningest four-year run in program history while anchoring the lineup at first singles from 1991 to 1994.
Balaji became the first Presidents' Athletic Conference men's tennis player to earn the conference's Most Valuable Performer award four times.
He won eight total conference titles, including four crowns at first singles, three first doubles titles and one conference championship at second doubles.
Balaji set a program record by earning 43 singles victories. His .915 winning percentage also set a program standard in singles competition. His performances at the top of the lineup helped Grove City accumulate a 45-7 overall record during his career.
The 1991 and 1992 teams both tied the single-season program record with 11 victories. Following a 10-1 mark in 1993, Grove City set a program record by winning 12 matches in 1994. The Wolverines went undefeated in conference play in each of Balaji's seasons.
Balaji compiled an 11-0 record in singles competition as a junior in 1993 as he won all 11 matches in straight sets.
The next season, he earned runner-up at the Great Lakes Small College Tennis Championships. He also received an invitation to play at the prestigious Van der Meer Shipyard Racquet Club during the team's 1994 spring trip to Hilton Head Island, S.C.
