Family ties

Mike Sciacca

It began six years ago, when Jessica Boyer stepped onto the tennis

courts at Edison High.

It continued a few years later when younger sister, Lauren, joined

her at the net, and again this school year when another sister,

Melissa, stepped in to carry on the Boyer tradition.

Since the Boyer sisters joined the Edison girls’ tennis program,

beginning in 1999, the Chargers have benefited in a big way by having

two Boyers on the same team.

First, it was the Jessica and Lauren duo. Now Lauren, a senior,

and Melissa, a freshman, are a sibling tandem for Edison.

“Hopefully, we can win another Sunset League title this year,”

Edison coach Nick Friendt said. “After all, every year there’s been

two Boyer sisters on the same team, we’ve been champs.”

During Jessica’s Edison career from 1999-2002, Edison won two

Sunset League crowns and Boyer was a league doubles finalist, round

of 16 CIF finalist and all-county selection. She compiled a four-year

career record of 174-71 and was selected to the Edison girls’ tennis

Hall of Fame before continuing her career at Cal State Long Beach.

Lauren, a senior, has been the “heartbeat” of the program the last

two years, Friendt said, inheriting the role of team captain from

Jessica when she graduated from Edison. Lauren is 26-2 this season

and has the potential, Friendt said, to record more than 200 career

wins when her Edison career is complete.

She had a 152-27 record through her first three years, each year

earning first-team All-Sunset League laurels.

The only other Edison player to record 200 career wins, Friendt

said, was Ryan Malawy, who graduated in June.

“Most importantly, though, Lauren doesn’t play for the records or

accolades, but rather, for the team,” Friendt said.

Melissa has run up an impressive 32-8 mark on the court in her

first year at Edison.

In a recent match against Brentwood, the No. 1 ranked team in CIF-Southern Section Division III, the Boyers trailed Brentwood’s top

two doubles teams by 0-4 scores, but rallied to post identical 6-4

wins. They earned a sweep by downing their third opponent, 6-2.

What was remarkable about the performance, Friendt said, was that

Lauren Boyer had re-injured her right elbow, but “willed herself to

win,” he said.

“This has been the second time this season that Lauren has played

hurt and been a decisive factor in matches,” Friendt said, noting

that Boyer had played hurt during a Sept. 15 match against Long Beach

Wilson.

In all, he said, the senior has sat out a potential 14 sets and

three matches due to her elbow injury.

“I don’t mind playing through the injury,” Lauren Boyer said.

“Coach has told me that if it hurts, to take myself out. I told him,

there’s no way I would leave a match.”

The Boyer sisters were preceded at Edison by their parents, Mark

and Janna, who were high school sweethearts. Mark Boyer, a tight end,

played on CIF championship football teams while at Edison and went on

to play at USC and enjoyed an eight-year NFL career. Their mother was

an Edison cheerleader.

Janna Boyer’s father, Ralph, who coached men’s tennis and

basketball at Mount San Antonio College for more than 20 years,

taught the Boyer girls and their cousins the game, Lauren Boyer said.

The family connection goes even further. Lindy Shields, a

sophomore on the tennis team, is a cousin of the Boyer girls.

“Edison tennis history has been ruled by dynasties,” Friendt said.

“The Orahoods and the Moores in the late 70s and 80s, and the Malawys

and Boyers in the 90s and 2000s. Those families have just ruled the

courts and ruled [the] Sunset League.

“What makes all the Boyer girls so dangerous on the court is a

twofold weapon -- their athleticism and their drive. We talk about

that all the time, about their athleticism taking over because quite

frankly, other people can’t do what they can, coordination-wise. When

you mix that with their competitiveness, heart and concentration,

it’s over. Forget about it.”

Lauren has displayed that drive in sweeps over opponents from

perennial tennis powers Corona del Mar, Laguna Beach, Mater Dei and

Brentwood.

“Lauren has mastered doubles like no other player, boys or girls,

I’ve had before,” Friendt said. “On a doubles court, she is

unstoppable. What makes it fun, too, is that in the big moments and

in the big matches, she raises her game and isn’t afraid to go for

it. That’s a family thing and all the girls have done it, with

Jessica starting the trend a couple of years back. It might be

genetic.”

It’s not about to stop either. When Melissa enters her senior year

three years from now, a fourth Boyer sister, Carlie, will be a

freshman at Edison.

Their brother, Markus, 8, has shown interest in both football and

tennis, Lauren said.

“I love being part of the family tradition,” she said. “And it

looks like it’s going to keep on going, too, with my sister and

brother coming up behind us. With my cousins playing too, it’s

definitely been a family affair.”