Free State High senior Sydney Moreano (20) gets a kill by blasting the ball past Lawrence High senior Cienna Sorell (16) during their volleyball match Thursday at FSHS.

Nobody informed Free State High’s volleyball team that the City Showdown is supposed to provide plenty of drama and entertain the loud student sections.

Instead, the Firebirds stepped on the court Thursday with laser-like focus in warmups and kept it up throughout the entire match, while silencing any of Lawrence High’s whispers for a comeback in a 25-13, 25-15, 25-12, victory at FSHS on Senior Night.

“Oh my gosh, it feels incredible to get a win on our special night, especially against our nemesis,” Free State senior Sydney Moreano said. “It’s the best feeling in the world right now.”

The Firebirds (18-18) jumped to a 10-2 lead in the first set, and never slowed down. Their defense was strong, passes were crisp and sets from junior Lauren Johnson and sophomore Payton Gannaway put their teammates in perfect position above the net.

Seven different Free State players had at least one kill, led by Moreano, Gannaway and junior Allison Knapp. Sophomore Naomi Hickman added three blocks.

“We were ready to go once we started getting on that court and really started warming up,” senior libero Paige Corcoran said. “We stayed consistent and solid throughout that entire match, and I think what set the volume that we played at tonight was our warmup.”

Free State also led 17-7 in the second set, and 16-7 in the third set. The Firebirds have won six of their last eight matches, as they worked on offering constructive criticism and staying supportive of each other during matches.

Coach Nancy Hopkins was happy to see strong starts in every set, especially after the Firebirds dropped the final three sets in a five-set thriller at last year’s City Showdown.

The Lions (13-24) just couldn’t string together a long rally of points with service errors and attacking errors holding them back. Junior middle blocker Caroline Dykes was the biggest bright spot, controlling the net with a game-high 11 kills and two blocks.

“I don’t know, it just wasn’t our night,” LHS coach Stephanie Magnuson said. The Lions also had kills from seniors Cienna Sorell and Jensen Edwards, and juniors Keeli Billings and junior Kari Karnes.

The two schools will face off against each other again in the first round of sub-state on Saturday afternoon at Olathe South.

“I think that gave us some swagger to be used this weekend, which is definitely a good thing,” Moreano said. “It gave us some of the confidence that we were looking for.”