Free State tennis cruises in quad

Any way you look at it, Free State High’s boys tennis team cleaned house Tuesday at the FSHS quadrangular.

The Firebirds had more team wins than visiting schools Olathe Northwest, Topeka Seaman and Roeland Park Miege. They also won more head-to-head matches with each of the opposing schools.

In fact, the Firebirds won 11 of the 12 matches they played Tuesday.

FSHS coach Jon Renberger said that although his team was favored to win its matches — all against Class 5A schools — he was proud that his team didn’t overlook its foes and still played at a high level. He said he was also pleased that his squad avoided having a letdown a day after winning an emotional showdown with city rival Lawrence High.

“The fact is, to say that we should do well is different than actually going out and doing it,” he said. “I’m proud of the fact that, playing back-to-back days, we didn’t suffer a letdown. We were on top of our game top to bottom. Everyone really played well and took care of business.

“Sometimes these are dangerous situations when you should win and are expected to win. It was good for us to handle the pressure and the nerves.”

The Firebirds made sure any pressure was kept to a minimum. All 11 wins came easily. The two closest matches were 8-3 decisions.

Sophomore Keith Pipkin cruised through all three of his matches at No. 1 singles. His last victory, an 8-0 win against Miege’s Paul Gregory, took just 16 minutes.

Both Free State doubles teams also went 3-0 Tuesday. Bryan Maygers and Jason Kroge improved to 7-0 on the season at No. 1 doubles.

Mark Whittemore and Cody Young improved to 5-1 on the year by sweeping teams from Northwest and Seaman, 8-0, before cruising past Miege, 8-3.

“It wasn’t really great competition,” Maygers said, “but we were happy that we didn’t make any major mistakes and didn’t make any matches close that shouldn’t have been.”

Free State is off until Tuesday, when it travels to Leavenworth.