Caitlin Dodd fires back the ball during doubles Regional tennis action Saturday in Gardner.

Gardner ? It was a wave of déjà vu on Saturday, with Free State High senior Caitlin Dodd and her sophomore sister, Ali Dodd, taking second place in doubles at the girls tennis regional at Gardner-Edgerton.

For the second straight year, the Dodd sisters were runner-up, the Firebirds finished second in the team standings, and Free State earned spots in the Class 6A state tournament for both of its doubles pairings.

FSHS seniors Andrea Chen and Rachel Walters qualified for state by finishing in fifth place.

Lawrence High’s doubles tandem of senior Betsy Smoot and Natalie Cote also qualified for state after finishing sixth at the regional.

“It’s so awesome,” Caitlin Dodd said. “I love just playing with my sister. Had a really successful season, so that’s awesome, just for my last year to be doing so well. We got second individually and as a team, so that’s something that I’ll always remember.”

The Dodd sisters fought back in the quarterfinals against Smoot and Cote after losing three straight games in both sets. But they stayed confident and won, 7-6 (2), 6-4.

They eventually lost in the finals, 6-2, 6-0, against Blue Valley senior Amanda Novicoff and freshman Gabby Lee.

“I felt like we just had energy the whole time and really stuck with it,” Ali Dodd said. “Even when some matches were difficult, we pulled through and just tried our hardest.”

Chen and Walters only started playing doubles together a couple of weeks ago, but immediately clicked on the court. They earned a victory in the consolation semifinals against Blue Valley West’s Annemarie Boeh and Abby Oschner to clinch their spot at state.

“We are just really close friends,” said Chen, who will play at state for the first time. “We’ve been teammates for three years now. I think we just know each other’s play. We know each other fairly well, so I think we just trust each other, and it was pretty easy for us to trust each other.”

Smoot and Cote responded after their loss against the Dodd sisters with a 6-4, 7-5 victory against Olathe Northwest’s Annemarie Boeh and Abby Oschner to earn a spot at state.

“I’m overjoyed,” LHS coach Chris Marshall said. “We’ve struggled a little bit mentally throughout the season. To see us overcome that mental challenge and concentrate and play some really good tennis … I mean, the last three games against Olathe Northwest were some of the best three games I’ve seen them play all year.”

After winning three straight games to avoid a tiebreaker or a third set, Cote did a fist pump and ran to hug Smoot along their baseline. Once they shook hands with their opponent, they hugged their families and shed some tears.

“I don’t really remember (those games) because they were kind of a blur,” Cote said. “From what I vaguely remember, they were pretty good.”

Smoot added: “It was absolutely incredible. I don’t think we had any errors at all. (Marshall) was just like, ‘You know, you’re three games away from state,’ and we were. We pulled through.”

The state tournament will begin at 11:20 a.m. Friday at College Boulevard Tennis Complex in Olathe.

Class 6A regional

Saturday at Gardner-Edgerton

Team scores: Blue Valley 21, Free State 10, Blue Valley West 10, Olathe North 7, Olathe South 6, Lawrence 2, Olathe Northwest 2, Gardner-Edgerton 0.

LHS results

Singles

Erin Ventura, LHS, lost to Keely Franklin, ON, 6-3, 6-4.

Payton Smith, LHS, lost to Kate Piper, FS, 6-3, 4-6, 10-3.

Doubles

Betsy Smoot/Natalie Cote, LHS (6th place, qualified for state), def. Stigal/Mente, OS, 6-1, 6-2; lost to Dodd/Dodd, FS, 7-6 (2), 6-4; def. Boeh/Ocshner, ONW, 6-4, 7-5; lost to Walters/Chen, FS, 6-3, 6-4.

Caroline Baloga/Maddie Mask, LHS, lost to Obermueller/Wolff, BVW, 6-4, 6-3.

Free State results

Singles

Kate Piper, FS, def. Payton Smith, LHS, 6-3, 4-6, 10-3; lost to Cady Lynn, OS, 6-0, 6-0; lost to Elaine Zhu, BV, 5-7, 6-0, 7-5.

Carter Stacey, FS, lost to Elaine Zhu, BV, 6-3, 6-4.

Doubles

Caitlin Dodd/Ali Dodd, FS (2nd place, qualified for state), def. Mueller/Calvin, GE, 6-1, 6-1; def. Smoot/Cote, LHS, 7-6 (2), 6-4; def. Skinner/Sherron, BVW, 6-1, 6-3; lost to Novicoff/Lee, BV, 6-2, 6-0.

Rachel Walters/Andrea Chen, FS (5th place, qualified for state), def. Burns/Keeney, GE, 6-0, 6-0; lost to Novicoff/Meizenback, BV, 6-0, 6-1; def. Obermueller/Wolff, BVW, 6-3, 7-6 (3); def. Smoot/Cote, LHS, 6-3, 6-4.