Peoria, Ill. -- Malini Wijesinghe graduated from Bradley University in 2019, but her impact on and off the tennis court is still felt in the Peoria community. We look back on Wijesinghe's time at Bradley in February's Title IX feature.
Wijesinghe did not have what some would call the "typical" route to becoming a Division I tennis player. Having only picked up the sport as an eighth grader, she quickly proved a natural talent and skilled player on her high school team. As a freshman at Apple Valley High School, Wijesinghe assumed the #1 spot on the varsity team. Wijesinghe then advanced to the Minnesota 2A state tournament in each of her last two seasons and reached the quarterfinals in 2014, finishing with a 26-1 record.
Wijesinghe thrived academically as well, and she was named the valedictorian of her graduating class. She chose to continue her academic and athletic careers at Bradley University, and it took little time for her to make her mark.
As a freshman, Wijesinghe shared the team lead in singles with 23 victories. That season total would propel her to the record books as the winningest #6 singles player in school history and tied for the most wins by a freshman and for the most MVC Conference wins in school history.
Wijesinghe followed that up in her sophomore season by sharing the team lead in 2017 with 19 singles wins. In her senior season, Wijesinghe earned All-MVC Select honors with a record of 14-4 in the #3 singles position. That same season, Wijesinghe teamed up with
Lindsay Haight in doubles play and earned All-MVC first-team honors at the #3 doubles spot.
While Wijesinghe excelled on the tennis court, she made a lasting impact off the playing surface as well. She became active on campus as a member of the Spanish Club, Socratic Society, Religious Studies Club, Chemistry Club, Braves Council and Student Senate. Passionate about giving back to the community, Wijesinghe started the Bradley University Clean Up Crew, which met weekly to pick up litter throughout campus and the surrounding neighborhoods and remains active on campus today. She was also active with the Whittier Primary Latchkey Kids, Special Olympics, and Service on Saturdays. She spent hundreds of hours volunteering with Youth Teaching Youth, HTM Food Shelf, Project Explore, and Vacation Bible School. For these and many other outreach efforts, Wijesinghe was named the 2018 recipient of the Bradley Athletics Carl Grose Service Award.
Wijesinghe awards and accomplishments also include the Bradley Athletics Coach Joe Stowell Award, ITA/Cissie Leary Award for Sportsmanship (2019), Google Cloud Academic All-Region 5 (2019), Google Cloud CoSIDA Academic All-American (2019), four-time MVC Commissioner's Academic Excellence Award (2016-2019) and the MVC President's Council Academic Excellence Award (2019).
Highlighting her immense impact, Wijesinghe earned national recognition for her efforts as the 2018 recipient of Intercollegiate Tennis Association's Arthur Ashe Sportsmanship and Leadership Award and received the award during the Ashe Awards ceremony prior to the start of the U.S. Open.
MVC Article PJ Star Article
Graduating summa cum laude in 2019 with a triple major in Biochemistry, Philosophy and Spanish, Wijesinghe is considered one of the most accomplished student-athletes in Bradley history.
In recognition of the anniversary signing date of Title IX on June 23, 1972, women significant to the history of Bradley University Athletics representing each of our women's teams and department support areas will be spotlighted on the 23rd of each month. Check out our previous features below.
Press Release: Celebrating Title IX 50 Years
Lydia Moss-Bradley: Paving the Way
Virnette House-Browning and Patty Viverito: Leaving an Impact
Title IX Conversations: Carol Price-Torok
Title IX Conversations: Andrea Gorski
Celebrating 50 Years of Title IX: Lindsay Stalzer
Celebrating 50 Years of Title IX: Caitlin and Kristen Busch
Celebrating 50 Years of Title IX: Nyagon Duany
Celebrating 50 Years of Title IX: Mary Ellen Hill-Schupbach
