The impressive serves and big-time winners weren’t landing for Cheyenne Mountain freshman Joey Geisz on Tuesday.

Acing the day’s test required a more mature approach.

The Indians’ No. 2 singles player reversed his strategy late in a third-set tiebreaker to get past Air Academy’s Connor Campbell 3-6, 7-5, (11-9), and Cheyenne Mountain beat the visiting Kadets 6-1 to climb within one win of taking the Pikes Peak Athletic Conference title.

With coaches and teammates lined up against the chain-linked fence for the final match of the day, Geisz overcame three consecutive double faults to begin the tiebreaker and used a strong forehand to build a 9-7 lead. Campbell staved off two match points before the freshman rallied to win the next two.

“The last (two times) I played him I was going for a lot of good shots and missed them,” said Geisz, who lost to Campbell in straight sets the other two times they’d played. “Today, I didn’t do that.”

Danny Geisz and all four doubles won in straight sets for the Indians. Cheyenne Mountain can win the league title with a win over Discovery Canyon on Sept. 27.

Last year, the Thunder won all three singles matches and took one doubles match to beat the Indians en route to a league crown.

“Doubles are going to be critical in that match,” Cheyenne Mountain coach Dave Adams said. “But today we had great wins in 2 and 3 (singles), so hopefully we get a little confidence there. Kids competed very well and they’re going to look for that on Tuesday.

“Everybody is going to have to pull their own weight.”

Stefan Orton-Urbina, the lone winner for Air Academy, knocked off Christian Ridings 6-3, 6-0 in No. 1 singles.

Orton-Urbina, at the hands of a tough schedule, came into Tuesday with six losses, already matching his 2015 mark.

The senior was never in jeopardy of losing his seventh – consistently driving Ridings back to the baseline and finishing a number of overhead winners.

“This is definitely the match that helps me get my aggressive nature out,” the 2015 4A quarterfinalist said. “He’s not hitting winners on me, and it was up to me to be aggressive and finish the point.”

The Kadets, who snapped a 25-year losing streak to the Indians with dual wins in 2013 and 2014, lost to their longtime rival for the second straight season.

“We tell them, ‘Do you want to be effective or do you want to be impressive?'” Air Academy coach Matt Kiser said. “They are young and they want to be impressive. And Cheyenne Mountain is more effective, they’re not as impressive.

“They need to see that. They need to see, ‘Hey, I just got beat by a guy who isn’t very impressive, but they do all the little things well and always under pressure.'”