There was a near-unanimous reaction to the Lawrence High boys tennis team’s performance at Tuesday’s home quad.

It was a heck of a lot better than Monday, at least.

The Lions shook off a dismal 7-2 loss Monday to rival Free State by having a decent day Tuesday in a quad featuring Olathe South, Shawnee Mission West — and black and red teams from LHS.

The red team — mostly those on top of the LHS ladder — won seven of 12 matches Tuesday to finish second. The black team had one win, a singles victory by Austin Kelly over SM West’s Austin Brown.

Olathe South won the quad with 10 wins. SM West had six.

“I think we showed a lot more enthusiasm today,” LHS coach Dick Wedel said. “The energy level was higher. We talked about that before the match, because it’s only fun when you really try hard.”

The Lions’ transformation from dull to shiny in 24 hours can’t be credited to one thing in particular. The weather, which took a similar turn from cold and miserable Monday to sunny and comfortable Tuesday, might have had something to do with it.

“It started off sunny yesterday, but on the 10-minute bus ride to Free State, it dropped 10 degrees,” senior James Garito said. “I think we play better when it’s nice out.”

The lone Lion to escape Free State unscathed — sophomore Ryan Robinson — had another successful day Tuesday. He won his lone singles match, 8-0, then teamed with junior Rahul Gogineni to claim an 8-5 doubles victory against O-South’s Joey Hartig and Kevin Reglin. It was the Lions’ lone victory against the Falcons.

Robinson also teamed with senior Martin Vertacnik to win an 8-0 doubles decision over SM West’s Brown and Grant Franken.

“He kept rolling,” Wedel said. “I guess I’m playing him in the right spot.”

The LHS red team went 2-2 against SM West, 1-3 against Olathe South and 4-0 against the black team. LHS senior Jim Ashcraft claimed the other victory against Lawrence’s Sunflower League foes, topping SM West’s Ted Kim, 8-1.

“I don’t want to be overly optimistic,” Wedel said, “but from yesterday to today, it was a pleasant step in the right direction. But in addition to the psychological and emotional aspects, we’ve got a lot of mechanical things to work on.

“I told them they have the game to beat most everybody that they play. What they do with the game, that’s the determining factor.”