By default, it’s still considered a rivalry.

But the Lawrence High boys tennis team would like to justify that status today, when they play host to city foe Free State at 3:30 p.m., looking to make a dent in the Firebirds’ 5-0 mark all-time against the Lions.

Believe it or not, there may be more pressure on Free State to stay perfect.

“There is a little bit of added pressure with that,” Firebird coach Jon Renberger said. “That streak’s not going to last forever, but we’ve got a nice little streak going against them.

“I don’t think any of the coaches from either school in any sport need to say much to motivate these kids. They know there’s a lot of attention, they know they’re be more people spectating. It’ll be more emotional than most matches are.”

Renberger’s LHS counterpart sees it a bit differently.

“It’s a streak,” Lions coach Dick Wedel said. “But I don’t keep track.”

Wedel still is trying to figure out his lineup, especially on the doubles side. The Lions’ No. 2 doubles pairing of Gardner Burg and Sam Goodell was about the only bright spot at Thursday’s quadrangular at Washburn Rural. The duo went 3-0, and that could provide momentum today.

It’s the fruit of what Wedel says he typically likes to do for the first half of the season — experiment.

“I thought that was a nice surprise,” he said of Burg and Goodell. “I’d like to build on that. I’m not asking them to get married or even go steady at this point when we set up those doubles teams.”

The match to keep an eye on today, though, will be between No. 1 singles foes Keith Pipkin from Free State and Tommy Johnson of Lawrence. The two split last season in their head-to-head meetings, with Pipkin winning at the crosstown dual and Johnson getting the victory at the Sunflower League meet.

Johnson is coming off of an 0-3 showing at Washburn Rural, while Pipkin recovered from an early defeat to go 2-1 at Wednesday’s home quad. He even pointed out after the match that he especially was looking forward to squaring off with Johnson today.

While Wedel’s team struggled for the most part last week, the Firebirds began to hit a stride, but Renberger wants to make sure his players don’t feel entitled to a victory just for showing up.

“They’ve probably been more emotionally high for that match in the past than we have, but, fortunately, we’ve had tremendous success against them in spite of that,” Renberger said. “Sometimes, physical ability and talent doesn’t mean everything. We’re going to have to be pumped up, because they will be.”