Overland Park ? Lawrence High took second in a Class 6A regional tennis tournament Friday at the Indian Creek Recreation Center, while Free State took third.

The second-place showing was the best LHS regionals finish in the past 10 years, according to coach Steve Hudson.

“It was a great team effort to finish that high,” Hudson said. “It was really exciting. I was hoping for the top two.”

Morgan Manger finished sixth in singles competition to qualify for the state tournament Friday and Saturday at Maize High School. The top six singles and doubles finishers at regionals qualified for state.

The Lions also had two doubles teams qualify for state: Elizabeth Simons and Jordan Payne took first, defeating teammates Jamie Jarrett and Taylor Eubanks, 2-6, 6-3, 11-9, in the regional finals.

“I’ve never seen that,” Hudson said of an all-LHS regional doubles final. “The reason it’s so rare is because you have to have a second doubles team better than everyone else’s (top) doubles team. It was intense. It started happy, but once they hit the tiebreaker, both teams really wanted to win. There was a lot of tension. But it was a night to remember.”

Free State had two singles players qualify for state: Kelly Phipps placed third, and Mackenzie Lown placed fifth. The Firebirds doubles team of Ashley Stagg and Liz Walters placed fifth in regionals to qualify for state also.