Newport Harbor bids for Sea View League crown

Richard Dunn

The last time the Newport Harbor High boys tennis program competed

for a league title, its coach, Jeff Thomsen, was a member of the

team.

And, since the program is still seeking its first Sea View League

win of the new millennium, the second-year coach is trying to go

lightly on the expectations. But it’s hard not to get excited about

incoming talent, especially diamonds in the rough, as the Sailors

have experienced in 2003.

“Last year was definitely a tough year, a rebuilding year, for

sure, but this year we’ve made huge strides,” Thomsen said. “We’re

definitely a lot more solid and we’ll be competing for the league

title this year.”

In addition to returning No. 1 singles player Tyler Deck and Sage

Hill transfer Charlie Farmer, both juniors, filling the top two

spots, the Sailors feature freshman Robert Khoury at No. 3 singles

and a well-stocked doubles lineup.

Senior Jason Lund and sophomore Dylan Espley-Jones return as the

No. 1 doubles team, while Thomsen will send out senior Brandon Lutfy

and freshman Ruslan Serdyuk as the No. 2 team. His third doubles team

is still undecided and will be determined among five candidates.

Thomsen, a 1994 Newport Harbor graduate whose tennis playing

career took off at Golden West College and the University of Oregon,

said next year could be even more anticipated with two eighth graders

expected to play for the Sailors as freshmen in 2004, including

nationally ranked Jake Fleming.

This season, however, Thomsen can see nothing but improvement for

his program, which went winless in league last season for the third

year in a row and finished with three wins overall.

“We look extremely well in singles and, hopefully, doubles can

pick up a few wins,” Thomsen said.

In Deck, Thomsen has the ace every coach is looking for, an

established tournament player who is working toward a collegiate

career.

Farmer, who sat out last year after transferring from Sage Hill,

competes regularly and successfully in United States Tennis

Association events in the 16s.

Khoury, 14, plays up in the USTA circuit, in the 16s and 18s, and could be a dominant singles player for four years. His sister,

Carmen, is a freshman on the UC Irvine women’s tennis team, while his

other sister, Diane, is a standout on Harbor’s girls team.

Lund and Espley-Jones played No. 1 doubles last year and are

expected to tandem again this spring. But the team’s biggest surprise

-- by way of Ukraine -- is Serdyuk, who showed up one day during

tryouts and quickly caught Thomsen’s eye.

“Nobody knew about him,” Thomsen said. “He said he used to live

with a tennis coach in Ukraine and said he wanted to play tennis

again. He’s really good ... he’s well-built and a strong kid. He’s

very mature for his age. He hits the ball extremely well and has a

lot of experience. He’s going to help us tremendously in doubles.

He’s kind of like the diamond in the rough.”

Many who go through team tryouts have little playing experience or

have never picked up a racket, so it was easy to spot Serdyuk, whose

family moved to Costa Mesa last year.

Thomsen’s third doubles will include either sophomore Derek Davis,

junior Bob D’Eliscu, senior Jonathan Tweena, senior Brian Hochwald or

freshman Chase Ayres.

Newport Harbor will open its season Friday at home against San

Clemente in a nonleague match at 3 p.m., then host Corona del Mar in

a nonleague match March 11, renewing the Back Bay rivalry.

“We can do some things this year,” Thomsen said. “We have the

opportunity to do some things, we just need to execute.”