Three Firebirds won their opening-round matches at the Class 6A state tennis tournament on Friday at Riverside Tennis Complex in Wichita.

And by day’s end, the doubles team of sophomore Maya Lee and senior Dayna Steadman, along with senior singles player Emma Evans, were all still alive on the consolation side of the bracket.

“All three girls competed hard today and faced adversity throughout the day,” said FSHS coach Aaron Clark. “But all of them battled through it and got the results they wanted. I’m excited to see how they compete and battle during Day 2.”

Evans defeated junior Maura Wiens, of Manhattan High, 6-4, 6-4, in Friday’s first round and followed that up with a hard-fought victory over Wichita Northwest sophomore Alayna Alvarez, 6-4 and 6-3.

Alvarez entered the state tournament with an overall record of 20-6 and received a first-round bye.

Evans’ victory over Alvarez set up a quarterfinal clash with Blue Valley Northwest regional champion, Emily Chiasson, who defeated Evans, 6-0 and 6-1 to move into the state semifinals.

The loss bumped Evans over to the consolation side of the bracket, where she will face Blue Valley North freshman Shelby Smith in a do-or-die match to kickoff Saturday’s action.

Smith enters the match with a 22-9 record this season. Evans’ two wins on Friday moved her record to 14-10.

In doubles action, Lee and Steadman also won their opening-round match on Friday in straight sets over Chloe Powell and Payton Tull from Garden City.

The duo then fell in Round 2, 6-3 and 6-1 to Blue Valley’s Sree Mylavarapu and Christina Stone, one of the four regional champions in the bracket.

That set up two must-win matches on the consolation side of the bracket and the Firebirds’ top doubles team survived both to advance to Saturday, knocking off a team from Manhattan High, 9-2, and another from Washburn Rural, 9-5 in the final match.

The 3-1 day improved their record to 25-9, and Lee and Steadman will open Saturday with another elimination match against Washburn Rural’s Katherine Fritz and Meredith Kucera — another regional champion — who will enter the match with a 23-5 overall record.

Evans, Lee and Steadman are all still in the hunt for a spot in the fifth-, seventh- and ninth-place matches.