Free State High’s boys tennis team proved its might Monday with its top lineup in a convincing 7-2 dual victory over Lawrence High.

But how would the Firebirds fare when that lineup was shaken up? How about a sweep.

The Firebirds disposed of both Shawnee Miege and Topeka Seaman, 4-0, Tuesday at Free State despite FSHS coach Jon Renberger splitting his squad.

“I was really surprised that we did get the shutout,” Renberger said. “I’m pretty confident that we have our top lineup pretty much set, but I’m still experimenting with a few things while I have the chance.”

Renberger said allowing other players to get experience was one factor for the Firebirds’ flipped foursomes.

More importantly, though, he had to make sure certain players wouldn’t burn some of their limited number of matches for the season.

Each player is allowed eight appearances for the year. Tournaments count as one appearance and dual matches count as half an appearance.

“I didn’t even know about the sweep,” said Alan Martinez, the likely the Firebirds’ No. 2 singles player, who defeated Seaman’s Eric Oh, 8-2, at No. 1 singles. “But we have a lot of talent on this team. And, depending on how people progress, anything is possible.”

The Firebirds’ top player, Ben Cropp, who was a part of both of Free State’s losses to Lawrence Monday, got back on the winning side with a 8-5 victory over Miege’s Paul Shin.

“It was a matter of night and day from yesterday to today,” Cropp said. “Yesterday Scott Elwell completely dominated me, but today I was hitting my shots despite the windy conditions.”

While Cropp, much like Renberger, said he thought the Firebirds’ top roster was ready to roll, he said Tuesday offered a proving ground to other teammates.

“Yeah, unless somebody would do something really special, we pretty much know what our lineup would be,” Cropp said. “But it does give some of our other kids that chance to prove themselves.

“I really think that if we are on top of our games, we can qualify our whole team for state.”