CHICO – Alex Musladin is only in his second year of high school tennis, but he has quickly become a fixture and has left his mark on Chico High’s boys’ tennis team.
Musladin, a junior, has an individual record of 18-2 in the 2022 season in 10 singles and 10 doubles. The Panthers have a team record of 11 wins and 0 losses and have won 7-0 in Eastern Athletic League games.
Musladin has played eight of his matches 10 singles matches in No. 3 spot with 7-1 and is 2-0 in No. 2 spot. After a 6-0, 6-0 win against Shasta on Tuesday, Musladin challenged teammate Lain Hensley to No. 2 spot on the team and won an eight-game win-for-two pro set 9-7 on Wednesday to win No. 2 ahead of next week’s games against Pleasant Valley.
Due to Musladin’s recent success, he has been named this week’s Chico Enterprise-Record Prep Athlete of the Week.
Musladin and Hensley would traditionally play a full three-set match in a challenge scenario, but due to the heat and the Panthers having a match against Enterprise on Thursday, the two players agreed on a pro set.
“Alex is someone I can always trust; I know he will always be there for training and is extremely well-liked among his teammates,” said Chico High coach Randy Agnew. “He is always the first to offer help and has “A great behavior over him. He is always positive. He is a true role model for younger players on the team. He continues to work hard on his tennis game and has improved a lot from last season.”
Musladin got its first win in its second ever match in the shortened 2021 season against Las Plumas, which came down to a tiebreak. He won by two points in the first match in which his family participated. He said there was a sense of, “you did it, you finally won your first fight.”
Musladin came to Chico his second year after growing up in Redwood City. His mother is a Butte College alumnae and he has family in Oroville, so his parents decided to move up from the Bay Area and move to Butte County. Musladin said it has been a big change, but one that he has enjoyed. He said Chico feels more like a smaller community and he enjoys it, unlike the tight housing in the Bay Area.
In Redwood City, Musladin grew up running cross-country skiing in middle school and his first year of high school. He took weekly private tennis lessons but never played any game before Chico High.
When rehearsals began for Chico High’s tennis team, it was a whole new experience for junior and Musladin’s favorite memory on his tennis trip at Chico High so far. The players were ranked in two days and had to put their best foot forward, which was a very nerve-wracking experience for Musladin. When he joined the team, that was where the joy started.
“It was definitely like woah, I did not really expect that. I told my parents I do not know how well I will do, but I will do my best,” said Musladin. to try your best. I went out here a bit and played pretty well, and when the ladder came out it was Søren (Granlund) and Alex as No. 2, so it was pretty cool. ”
When Musladin moved to Chico, his father got him to join a tennis club in the Chico Racquet Club, a place where he soon found another home. He got a summer job to earn some extra money at the Chico Racquet Club, and now works on the weekends of the school year. In the low season for the high school team, the father-son duo often rehearse together at Alex’s work.
“He has a background in tennis. He played in high school and played a little bit through college, he took a break and he got back into it as soon as I got into it,” Musladin said. “We go out and play “All the time. We go out and serve and practice all the time. We always talk about our tennis games and stuff. We always talk about things so it’s really nice.”
Musladin credited his father and Agnew as two people who have been extremely influential in the development of his tennis game. He said that his father always pushes him on the field, as well as that Agnew leads by example on the field – as a father of four, who puts together team events and has a full-time job outside of coaching.
Agnew sees the extra effort that Musladin is making and also appreciates it. When the coach led a project to help clean up the tennis courts before the season, Agnew said Musladin was the first to volunteer and became the last. When the team volunteered to work on the concessions at a football game, Musladin was the first to volunteer and worked hard all evening.
“It’s just his work ethic; he is a strong worker and very humble, ”Agnew said of Musladin.
For Musladin, he sees the duties off the field as part of being part of a team he loves.
“It’s being part of the school, being part of the culture, being part of the community at Chico High,” Musladin said. “There has to be some kind of rivalry between teammates, but off the field you are good friends and you are a good sport at the end of the day.”