FREE STATE HIGH FRESHMAN MICHAEL SWANK watches his return during the quarterfinals of the Class 6A state tennis championships. Swank lost the match, 6-0, 6-1, to Shawnee Mission East sophomore Chris Fotopoulos on Friday at the Kossover Tennis Center in Topeka.

Topeka ? Michael Swank had two straight overhead shots returned right back at him, so he decided to put more emphasis on his third offering.

With the second return lobbed in his direction, the Free State freshman leaped in the air and pounded his third overhead shot in a row.

Swank struck it with such authority, the ball nearly bounced over the gate that separated the courts at Kossover Tennis Center.

Swank defeated Manhattan’s Gabe Nagy, 9-4, in his third match of the Class 6A boys state tennis tournament. Before the victory, Swank defeated Washburn Rural’s Sebastian Reiter, 6-2, 6-0, but lost to Shawnee Mission East’s Chris Fotopoulos, 6-0, 6-1.

With two victories and a loss on the first day, the highest Swank can finish is fifth. He is guaranteed a medalist spot in the top eight in his first season with the Firebirds.

Swank said his expectation was to win the tournament, but it was still evident he was having fun on the court. In his match against Nagy, Swank flashed an intense fist pump – think Tiger Woods’ reaction after sinking a 50-foot putt, taken down a notch – shortly after one of his several overhead slams.

“He was keeping the ball deep and using his top spin to kick the ball up,” Free State coach Jon Renberger said of how Swank set up his overhead shots. “His opponent was a shorter player who didn’t really like shots chest high. Michael was also a lot more aggressive coming in. In the second round, he couldn’t take as many risks like that.”

In the second round, Fotopoulos displayed cat-like reflexes to counter Swank’s aggressive style of play. When Swank had opportunities at overhead shots, Fotopoulos flashed a quick racquet.

For instance, in the fourth game of the first set, Swank had an opportunity to put a point away. Instead, Fotopoulos returned Swank’s overhead shot so effectively that Swank’s ensuing return traveled out of bounds.

“My ground strokes don’t feel solid right now,” Swank said. “I just don’t feel like I can win big points with my ground strokes by being consistent, then setting it up for the big forehand.”

In his victorious third match, Swank actually hit a few touch shots, which aren’t typically in his toolbox.

“I didn’t play Michael Swank tennis – more aggressive, big serves, big forehands – but I’ll take it,” Swank said.

Swank will face Washburn Rural’s Johnny Stueve today at 9 a.m.

In doubles competition, Free State senior Jack Hull and junior Charlie Moffet won their first match, 6-3, 7-5, against Michael Holtz and Michael Tran of Topeka High. The duo lost their next two matches to Blue Valley Northwest’s Lee Neilson and Rod Bastani (6-1, 6-1) and Olathe East’s Alex Small and Trevor Bond (9-7).

Hull and Moffet faced Small and Bond three times in the last two years before Friday. Hull said the O-East duo won the previous three matches easily. Nothing was easy Friday.

The match was played under the nine-game pro-set format. Small and Bond jumped out to a 5-2 advantage, but Hull and Moffet regained the lead, 7-6. The match got so intense that Hull and Moffet called in a line judge to rule out calls.

“We thought they missed four calls in the first three games,” Hull said. “So we called a line judge and, for the most part, it was pretty fair the rest of the match.”

Small and Bond took the last three games for the win.

Hull and Moffet will face Olathe Northwest’s Evan Hoisington and Alex Graves today at 9 a.m. If they win, the FSHS duo would play another match for ninth place.