Lawrence High's No. 1 singles player, Xin Liu, returns a shot in her doubles match against Blue Valley Northwest. Liu and teammate Yoshika Crider dropped their doubles match Thursday at the Lawrence Tennis Center.

Before coming to Lawrence in the fall of 2006, Lawrence High coach Steve Hudson spent two years as an assistant girls tennis coach at Blue Valley Northwest.

There, he learned the ropes from Huskies coach Ted Fabiano.

Thursday afternoon, Fabiano and crew invaded LHS and created a strong sense of been there, done that for the Lions’ coach.

“It was like an awkward family reunion today,” Hudson said. “I wanted to root for them, but I really didn’t because I wanted to see our girls do well. It was nice to see them all again, though. It brought back a lot of nice memories.”

Good thing. Because the Huskies roughed up Hudson’s Lions by winning 23 of 25 matches, including all nine varsity clashes.

The only LHS athletes to win Thursday were junior varsity singles players Shauna Belles (9-7) and Arianne Suchy (8-5) in the final two matches of the day. After their victories, the rest of the LHS squad rushed the court and mobbed their victorious teammates.

“We ended on a good note,” Hudson said. “They’re a great team, and it’s a very friendly rivalry. Our girls get a lot out of playing them.”

It’s not as if the Lions didn’t have success against the Huskies. They did. Several LHS varsity players forced long rallies and played much closer than the final scores showed.

No. 1 singles player Xin Liu’s match against Blue Valley Northwest’s Sophie Kuchynka was a prime example. Early in the match, Liu rattled Kuchynka with a flurry of drop shots and broke through to win a game. However, from there, consistency was Liu’s biggest problem.

“I’m very impatient,” Liu said. “So if I can’t force her back, I try to bring her in. It was like a lobbing contest out there, and that’s not very much fun.”

Liu lost 8-1.

The rest of the LHS varsity singles players also lost, with Yoshika Crider and Lynn Chen being blanked, 8-0, and Elizabeth Simons and Marcy Vickers falling, 8-1. No. 6 singles player Mila Mimica came the closest to notching a victory, but fell, 8-5.

In doubles action, the results weren’t much prettier. Liu and Crider lost, 8-1, Chen and Mimica fell, 8-0, and Simons and Vickers dropped an 8-4 decision.

However, Hudson was impressed by the strong play of two of his sophomores – Simons and Vickers. Playing together in a varsity doubles match for the first time, the two gave their Blue Valley counterparts all they could handle.

“We clicked when we first met,” Simons said, explaining the quick chemistry she and Vickers developed.

“We talk well with each other and we always communicate,” Vickers added. “Today, we were sort of nervous because this team slaughtered us last year, but we gave it our best shot.”