If anybody needed proof of Olathe South High freshman Haley Craig’s powerful serve, they could have checked the chain-link fence behind court two at Free State High on Monday evening.

That’s where a tennis ball was stuck after a powerful Craig serve blew by her opponent, Firebird junior Julia Guard.

“She is Division One talent as a freshman,” Free State coach Jon Renberger said. “She is big, strong and athletic.

“It will be nice to watch her develop over the next few years.”

Craig beat Guard, 8-0, at No. 1 singles, improving her record this season to 12-0. Craig frustrated Guard with her powerful serves and quickness, keeping Guard off-guard.

“She played flawlessly,” Guard said. “It was amazing.”

The match between Free State and Olathe South, which began over an hour late because of a thunderstorm, ended in almost complete darkness and a 6-all tie.

Each team won four singles matches and two doubles matches.

“With the rain delay and it being a Monday, I didn’t think we played at the energy level that we needed to,” Renberger said. “I am relieved to get the tie without playing anywhere near our best tennis. It would have stung pretty bad to have suffered a loss.”

In the No. 2 singles match, Free State’s Andrea Koch led Janelle Bertagnole, 7-4, before Bertagnole won three straight games to tie the match at seven.

In the tiebreaker, Koch dominated and won, 7-1.

“Winning that in a tiebreaker after (Bertagnole) came back to tie it up was big,” Renberger said. “She really steamrolled her in the tiebreaker.”

The most important match didn’t seem like it would mean much when it began.

The No. 4 singles match between Meghan Bock and Jen Ackerly was the last to be played, and after Bock won, 8-6, in almost total darkness, it secured the tie for Free State.

Because of time and the approaching darkness, the match was played with no advantages, meaning that when it came to deuce, the next point was the winner. That added a lot of pressure, Renberger said.

“She was down pretty much the whole match, and she was able to come back, playing no-advantage, and get the win,” Renberger said. “She didn’t know that her match was going to either give us a tie or a loss as a team, but playing no-advantage still adds a lot of pressure.”

Free State plays Blue Valley West on Thursday before the city showdown, a dual Monday with Lawrence High.