Coach Dick Wedel’s motto for the year might be “Make ’em cry,” but Lawrence High’s Lauren Kelly and Laura Wilson found success Monday by making the opposition try.

Using a finesse game, the Lions’ No. 1 doubles team finished the day 2-1 at the Lawrence Quadrangular by returning almost everything hit to them.

“We just try and get it back, because that’s frustrating for other people,” Kelly said, “especially when they’re trying to hit all hard and you can always return it back to them.”

Though not powerful hitters, Kelly and Wilson used persistence to rally from a 6-3 deficit in the first match to pull out a victory at Lawrence Tennis Center.

Tied at 6 in the tiebreaker, Kelly unleashed an overhead, two-handed winner down the middle, and Topeka High’s Michelle Jantzen followed with a return into the net to give the Lions the victory.

“We just started to play more together,” Kelly said. “Once we got to the tiebreaker, we were like, ‘That effort is not going to waste.’ We wanted to win that one.”

Kelly and Wilson took their next match against Washburn Rural (8-4) but tired in their last contest against Topeka West.

“The first two matches we definitely noticed we were out there the longest,” Wilson said. “It was very grueling.”

Wedel used the early quad to look for future doubles teams, and the coach said he might have found one in Kelly and Wilson.

“I don’t want to commit myself too early in the year, but so far they’re showing good compatibility,” Wedel said. “Like I sometimes say, they’re at the serious dating stage. They’re not married yet, but they’re dating seriously.”

LHS picked up two other victories in the quad, which featured teams from Topeka High, Topeka West and Washburn Rural.

Lily Boyce picked up her first victory of the year at No. 2 singles, defeating Topeka High’s Deborah Christiansen, 8-2. Boyce also was competitive in her only match at No. 1 singles, losing 8-4 to West’s Teri Hopkins.

The Lions’ No. 2 doubles team of Emily Thompson and Becca Dirks took the other win, an 8-1 triumph over West’s Deja Jackson and Kimberly Clouse.

The team will take part in its biggest tournament of the young season Wednesday, traveling to Kossover Tennis Facility in Topeka.

Though he was pleased with the pair’s results, Wedel believed Kelly and Wilson could still benefit from being more assertive.

“Every time you get a ball back, you have a chance to win the point,” Wedel said, “but we need to work on having them think more aggressively, because they’re both pretty good at the net.”

Still, he was happy the pair had found a way to heed his original message.

“You can make them cry by frustrating them,” Wedel said with a smile.