CHICO — Alex Musladin is in just his second year of high school tennis, but he has quickly become a staple and made his mark on the Chico High boys tennis team.
Musladin, a junior, has an individual record of 18-2 in the 2022 season in 10 singles matches and 10 doubles matches. The Panthers have a team record of 11 wins and 0 losses and have gone 7-0 in Eastern Athletic League play.
Musladin has played eight of his matches 10 singles matches in the No. 3 spot, going 7-1, and is 2-0 in the No. 2 singles position. After a 6-0, 6-0 win against Shasta on Tuesday, Musladin challenged teammate Lain Hensley for the No. 2 spot on the team and won an eight game win-by-two pro set 9-7 on Wednesday to earn the No. 2 ahead of next week’s matches 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 because of the heat and the Panthers having a match against Enterprise on Thursday the two players agreed to a pro set.
“Alex is someone I can always rely on; I know he’s always going to be at practice and is extremely well liked amongst his teammates,” said Chico High coach Randy Agnew. “He’s always the first to offer help and has a great demeanor about him. He’s always positive. He’s a true role model for younger players on the team. He continues to work hard on his tennis game and has improved greatly from last season.”
Musladin got his first win in his second ever match in the shortened 2021 season against Las Plumas that came down to a tiebreaker. He won by two points in the first match his family attended. He said there was a feeling of, “you did it, you finally won your first match.”
Musladin came to Chico his sophomore 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 uproot 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 that, opposed to the tight housing in the Bay Area.
In Redwood City, Musladin grew up running cross country in middle school and his freshman year of high school. He took weekly private tennis lessons, but never had any match play before Chico High.
When tryouts began for the Chico High tennis team, it was a completely new experience for the junior and Musladin’s favorite memory on his tennis journey at Chico High thus far. Players were ranked in two days and had to put their best foot forward, which was a very nerve-racking experience for Musladin. When he made the team, that’s where the joy kicked in.
“It was definitely like woah, I wasn’t really expecting that. I told my parents I don’t know how well I’m going to do but I’m going to try my best,” Musladin said. “They were like just try your best. I kind of went out here and playing pretty well and when the ladder came out it was Soren (Granlund) and Alex as No. 2 so that was pretty cool.”
When Musladin moved to Chico, his father had him join a tennis club at the Chico Racquet Club, a place he at which he soon found a second home. He got a summer job to gain some extra money at the Chico Racquet Club, and now works on the weekends during the school year. During the off-season for the high school team, the father-son duo often practice 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 together all the time. We go out and hit serves and practice all the time. We’re always talking about our tennis game and stuff like that. We’re always chatting about stuff so that’s really nice.”
Musladin credited his father and Agnew as two people who have been extremely influential in the growth of his tennis game. He said his father is always pushing him on the court, as well as Agnew leading by example off the court — as a father of four, putting together team events and holding a full-time job outside of coaching.
Agnew sees the extra effort Musladin puts in and appreciates it as well. When the coach led a project to help clean the tennis courts prior to the season, Agnew said Musladin was the first to volunteer and stayed until the very end. When the team volunteered to work the concessions at a football game, Musladin was the first to volunteer and worked hard the entire evening.
“That’s just his work ethic; he’s a strong worker and very humble,” Agnew said of Musladin.
For Musladin, he sees the off the court duties as part of being a part of a team, which he loves.
“It is being part of the school, being a part of the culture, being a part of the community at Chico High,” Musladin said. “There needs to be some sort of rivalry between teammates, but off the court you’re good friends and you’re a good sport at the end of the day.”
