Chelsea High School has over 40 kids in its boys tennis program. Lincoln has just 14. Bedford is even thinner with 12.

So when the three teams met Tuesday for a quadrangular - Chelsea split into two teams, Gold and Blue - the hosting Bulldogs trotted out their junior varsity players to balance the playing field. And more importantly, give those underclassmen extra reps.

Bedford and Lincoln, meanwhile, didn't have to break a figurative sweat over the results.

"My guys can try all their shots, hit hard. This is a much unpressured, unstressed invitational," said Railsplitters' coach Roger Reyes. "The objective is to win the match. However, there aren't consequences to our conference standings.

"I really like this format to start the season."

When all the tallies were charted, Lincoln (0-3-1) lost to Bedford (5-3) and Chelsea Blue (6-2), and tied with Chelsea Gold (4-4). Chelsea Blue fell to Bedford (5-3) while Chelsea Gold knotted the Kicking Mules (4-4). Blue and Gold's showdown wasn't scored.

Making the most of his court-time for Lincoln was its No. 3 singles player Zach Dunlop, the lone Railsplitter to finish the day undefeated. The junior gritted through three consecutive three-set matches (all third sets were played in tiebreaker format), and climbed out of each one with a victory.

"I'm so dead right now," exhaled Dunlop, hunched over, after topping Bedford's Alex Litvinciuc 6-3, 2-6, 10-6, in the day's final match. "That was rough. I just thought if I could get one of the two (sets) ... And the third one just try my best and see what happens."

Dunlop's earlier marathon-match wins came against Chelsea Gold's Nate Obenchain 6-2, 1-6, 11-9) and Blue's Pat Haverb (4-6, 7-5, 10-7).

Despite the elongated workout, "It was a good time. I had fun," smiled Dunlop.

Chelsea Gold's Brett Argir, No. 1 singles, also finished 3-0.

Lincoln's remaining singles players, Justin Keeney (No. 4), Ian Bentrum (No. 2) and Chad Opfermann (No. 1) notched a win apiece. The Railsplitters' Zack Hunt and Joshua Keaton added a win at No. 2 doubles.

Opfermann couldn't savor his win quite like his teammates. His Bedford opponent, Michiel Idema, forfeited during the second set due to a strained shoulder.

"I was a little frustrated because I was having fun," said Opfermann, who squeezed out the first set 7-6 (13). "I didn't want him to quit, but I didn't want him to hurt himself, either."

And Opfermann knows how important evading injury is for teams who don't have a lot of players to begin with.

"It makes it a little difficult playing the bigger schools," Opfermann admitted. "They have more players and can choose from the best of the best. We have to work with what we have."

But there are benefits to playing the bigger teams, especially when the season is young.

"We'll get better when we play more experienced players," Opfermann added. "We pick up on things and become better players in certain aspects."

Kaleb Roedel is a sports writer for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at (734)623-2562 and e-mailed at kalebroedel@annarbor.com. Follow him on Twitter @Kaleb_R.