Sandeep Mulay, who resides in San Jose, Calif., with his wife Reena, has been called “the most talented tennis player in Barton history” by one of his college coaches, Tom Morris.
That’s pretty high praise, considering Morris is a Hall of Fame inductee who won two district and four conference championships and was twice an NAIA All-American in singles.
It‘s ironic that Morris presented Mulay at the induction ceremony since there are two of the more decorated athletes in the history of the college. They also share something else: neither thought he was that great a player.
Their vanquished foes would beg to differ.
Just a glance at Mulay’s records and awards tell the story: four-time All-Carolinas Intercollegiate Athletics Conference; four-time All-District; two-time NAIA All-American; national singles runner-up in 1990 (the furthest advance in school history by a Barton player); two-time Academic All-American; CIAC Player of the Year twice; District Player of the Year once; Barton Kiwanis Male Athlete of the Year in 1990 and 1991; Team MVP three times; and an 83-12 singles record his final three seasons. Some of those losses came to NCAA Division I foes.
That’s impressive, but there’s more. Off the court, Mulay was just as brilliant, finishing first in the senior class with a Barton College career 3.99 GPA in business. He was president of the Barton Student Government Association and won the prestigious Murphy Osborne Award as a senior, the highest student-athlete award given by the conference. He was also honored with the Arthur Ashe Sportsmanship Award his senior season at the NAIA Banquet of Champions. One of the reasons he received the award was because, just before nationals his junior year, his father became ill. He flew home to be with his family and skipped the national tournament. He owned a 22-2 record, a District 26 singles and a No. 5 national ranking at the time, so he was one of the favorites to win it all.
Mulay was introduced to the game of tennis at age 9 by his father, Vasant, who plays tennis every day. Mulay won the first local event he played in and then the trophies started piling up. He was selected to play for India’s National Junior Team, but could not participate because “it conflicted with my exams.”
He joined the Bulldogs’ program in January of 1989, after leading the University of Pune to the India National Championship as its undefeated No. 1 player. Along the way, as a junior competitor, he led his state, Maharashtra, to several national championships.
Coming to Barton to play and study was a huge break for Mulay, who would have had to make a choice between his studies or tennis had he stayed in India.
His impact was immediate on the Atlantic Christian (now Barton) lineup. He won one round of singles at the national tournament as a freshman in helping the Bulldogs finish 7th as a team. His first two years, he played No. 2 in the lineup behind All-American Zubin Irani.
It was his sophomore year that Mulay made a name for himself in America, rolling all the way to national finals before losing in three sets to Elon’s Roland Thornqvist, who went on to star, and coach, at the University of North Carolina.
Mulay, who played for Charlie Reynolds his first two seasons and Coach Morris his last two, overpowered his foes with a tremendous serve-and-volley attack. He can still recall points he won and lost in key matches during his college career. He credits Thornqvist’s great return-of-serve for keeping him from winning the NAIA singles championship and remembers that having the tournament moved indoors in Kansas City, Mo., because of rain worked to his advantage.
Mulay finished 36-7 that season, and followed it with a 22-2 mark as a junior and a 25-3 record his senior season. He was upset in the third round of nationals as a senior and is still dismayed that he didn’t help Coach Morris win a title.
He teamed with Oscar Blacutt to win a District 26 doubles title and remembers that teammate Roddy Parks’ great return-of-serve helped him develop as a player.
