Though the Sunflower League girls tennis tournament is today at Shawnee Mission East, coaches at Lawrence High and Free State are looking forward to the regional tournament next week.

All players in the matches today will qualify for the regional tournament, but will use the matches to determine seeding.

“I hope that we are going to peak, not tomorrow, because regionals is our focus,” LHS coach Steve Hudson said.

Hudson’s team has played twice this week, losing to Free State, 5-4, Monday and going 1-2 Wednesday at a quad.

“It was a good tune-up,” Hudson said. “We are playing a lot, but with the conditioning that we did earlier in the year, I think we will be OK as far as getting tired. I think it was really good for us to play some matches to lead into this.”

The Lions will send their usual lineup, with Lauren Kelly and Kelly Morgan playing No. 1 and No. 2 singles. On the doubles side, LHS will send Lucy Liu and Lily Boyce on the first team and Joanna Wakeman and Becca Dirks on the second.

The Lions are playing their best tennis, Hudson said.

“I think we are peaking at the right time,” Hudson said. “Mentally : we are able to close out some matches that earlier in the year we would have lost.”

Free State had the luxury of just practicing Wednesday.

The Firebirds’ top doubles team, Julia Guard and Leigh Luina, hope to improve on their 12-4 record this season. The Firebirds’ second doubles team will be Maggie Hull and Rosie Hull, who are 14-6 this season. Molly Fyler and Holly Maygers will be the Firebirds’ singles players.