In the swing of things

Mike Sciacca

When the Edison High boys’ tennis team got off to a tremendous start

last month, the bolt out of the gate even caught Chargers head coach

Nick Friendt by surprise.

Granted, Friendt knew that his team had the talent, but a 10-1 run

to open the current campaign, which included notching a few Sunset

League victories, was better than expected.

“Entering the season we knew we wouldn’t be playing for the Sunset

League title,” said Friendt, in his fourth year as coach of both

boys’ and girls’ programs at Edison. “You don’t go from not making

the CIF playoffs, which was the case for us last year, to winning a

league championship the next season. I’ve been around tennis and

coaching long enough to know that.

“What I do know about this team is that it has a lot of heart. We

may not be the best team out there on the court but one thing our

kids have going for them is that they are ultra-competitive. They’re

also very coachable, they hustle and they just go after the game.

They have a lot of heart and that makes up for what they might lack.”

The 2003 Chargers are attempting to rebound from last year’s 8-12

mark -- they’ve already surpassed last year’s win total -- and reach

the playoffs for the first time since the 2000 season.

The school hasn’t won a boys’ league title since the 1993 season,

the year prior to Los Alamitos and Esperanza joining the Sunset

ranks. Since then, Los Alamitos has held a stranglehold on the crown.

Friendt has won two Sunset girls’ titles in four years.

Edison’s fast start can be attributed to a few factors: three

seniors play doubles, junior Ryan Malawy has been outstanding at No.

1 singles as has newcomer Thomas Shubert, a freshman who plays No. 2

singles.

“Going into this season I expected us to be better than last

year’s team,” Friendt said. “We had some senior leadership returning.

Ryan is an all-league returner and the play of Thomas has been

outstanding.”

Malawy, who has played at No. 1 singles since his freshman year,

has won an amazing 50-plus matches in each of his first two years at

the school.

He’s closing in on a third consecutive 50-match win season,

sporting a 40-5 record heading into the spring break.

“Ask not what your teammates can do for you -- ask what you can do

for your teammates,” said Malawy, of the key to a successful season.

“I’m trying to do the best for myself and my teammates and they all

need to do the best they can. What each of us do affects the whole

team.”

Malawy and Shubert give the Chargers a potent one-two punch.

“Thomas is an unbelievable player to watch,” Friendt said of

Shubert, who is 30-3 this season. “Ryan is the same, and both have a

tremendous, all-around game.

“Ryan has one of the best back hands in Orange County. And as for

Thomas, down the road, he would win an individual league title, and

an individual CIF title, as well.”

One problem plaguing the Chargers this season has been injuries.

Shubert has sat out the past three matches due to a back injury.

Edison’s No. 2 doubles team of John Pitchford and Jon Vuong has been

hit by the bug, too. Pitchford has suffered from a nagging shoulder

injury, but Friendt says he’s close to 100-percent recovered. The two

even talked, earlier in the year, about Pitchford delivering an

under-hand serve.

Vuong, meanwhile, had been sidelined with a knee injury. Victor

Jacobs, No. 3 singles, has fought through wrist tendinitis and has

“played tough,” Friendt said.

With a depleted lineup, Edison hit a snag in its season last week,

dropping three consecutive matches, two in league to Huntington Beach

(10-8) and Los Alamitos (16-2), the other, a nonleague match to

Laguna Beach (10-8).

“Except for the Los Al match, we have been in every match, despite

our injuries,” Friendt said. “That shows me the character of our

team. They are fighters and they just won’t quit.

“We have the second half of the league season coming up next week

and we have put our self in line for a CIF playoff berth. All you can

ask for is a shot at something like that, and this team has gone

after that.”

Edison resumes Sunset League wars Monday against rival Fountain

Valley at Mile Square Park. The next day, they host Esperanza.

The Chargers then hit the road Wednesday for a trip north to

compete at the Ojai Tournament.

The prestigious event is the oldest, nonprofessional tournament in

the world, Friendt said, and celebrates its 105th tournament this

year.

The best showing by Edison, Friendt said, came in 1996 when the

doubles team of junior Dan Albrecht and senior Eugene Jew advanced to

the third round.

The duo went on to win the Sunset League title that same year.

“Ojai is such a great tournament and it’s just an honor to get

invited,” he said. “We’re going up there with a very confident team.”

* MIKE SCIACCA covers sports and features. He can be reached at

(714) 965-7171 or by e-mail at michael.sciacca@latimes.com.