Fifth-year player who was a key contributor in the doubles lineup for the Irish… hard work had him playing the best tennis of his career after great improvement ... has very sound fundamentals and stylish strokes ... has great flair to his game ... became the first Irish tennis monogram winner from the state of West Virginia, making it the 37th state represented among Notre Dame men’s tennis letterwinners.
AS A SENIOR: Was an important part of Irish doubles attack in 2002, playing mostly at No. 2 … had 16-14 doubles mark with five different partners, including 13-12 in dual matches … led Irish with seven clinching matches in doubles … delivered 9-8 (7-4) win (with James Malhame) at No. 2 in last match on-court to clinch doubles point in 4-3 win over Illinois, capping a five-match winning streak for the Irish pair … registered 8-6 upset (with Malhame) at No. 1 of 27th-ranked pair of Endrikat/Morton from UC-Irvine in season opener for his first career win over ranked opponent … also played at No. 1 with Casey Smith against Ball State, winning to help the Irish gain the doubles point in a 4-3 win … played with Paul McNaughton in Omni Hotels Region IV Championships … posted 3-1 singles record in Tom Fallon Invitational in only singles action of the season.
AS A JUNIOR: Compiled 5-3 doubles record in ’00 fall with four partners ... teamed with Brian Farrell in first-round loss at Inter-
collegiate Tennis Association Midwest Doubles Championship ... went 3-0 at Kentucky Invita-
tional with James Malhame (2-0) and Andrew Laflin (1-0) ... had 2-1 record with Matthew Scott at Tom Fallon Invitational ... made singles appearances at Kentucky Invitational and Indiana State Invitational ... did not participate in spring season.
AS A SOPHOMORE: Gave team solid doubles contributions ... paired with James Malhame at No. 3 doubles and qualified for ’99 Intercollegiate Tennis Association Region IV doubles tournament ... teamed with Ryan Sachire for win at No. 2 doubles against Michigan State ... played at No. 3 doubles with Matt Daly against Wisconsin and Miami ... reached Tom Fallon Invitational final with Andrew Laflin ... three of his doubles losses came in tiebreakers ... played in two singles matches at Tom Fallon Invitational.
AS A FRESHMAN: Went 2-4 in singles at ’98 Rice Invitational and Boilermaker Classic ... posted wins over Justin Work of Texas A&M and Tom Gustowski of Ball State ... played doubles with James Malhame at Boilermaker Classic and Aaron Talarico at Rice Invitational ... did not see action in 1997-98.
IN NON-COLLEGIATE ACTION: Reached doubles semifinals with Andrew Laflin at ’00 Intercollegiate Tennis Association summer circuit event at Notre Dame ... spent part of ’00 summer playing professional futures tournaments in India.
HIGH SCHOOL AND PERSONAL DATA: Played high school tennis at Morgantown High School and reached state finals in doubles as a junior and state singles and doubles final as a senior ... team won state championship in junior and senior year ... had a 20-0 record in singles as a junior and was 26-0 in doubles ... had a 24-1 record in singles as a senior and was 25-0 in doubles ... attended Palmer College Prepar-
atory School in Tampa, Fla., for 10th grade ... sister Leela played tennis at Brown ... born March 26, 1980, in Morgantown, W.Va. ... named to dean’s list in spring 2001 semester ... graduated in January, 2002 from the College of Arts and Letters as a pre-professional studies/history major.
Head Coach Bob Bayliss on . . .
Ashok Raju
"The emergence of Ashok – as a guy who never played, but came back for a fifth year and became a go-to guy for us in doubles and played so well in the NCAAs – was probably as rewarding as anything we had happen all year."
