Lara Schultz smiled and let out an excited yell, mimicking the reaction of someone who had just won a state championship.

But the kill was only the first point of the match.

By the time the fourth set was finished and Prior Lake had defeated Lakeville South 3-1, Schultz’s emotions brought her to tears as her team clinched its first outright South Suburban Conference title.

“It’s an unbelievable feeling to be conference champions,” Schultz said. “We’ve never done it all by ourselves before. We’ve been co-champions but we’ve never been sole champions, so it feels amazing.”

The junior outside hitter finished with 13 kills and four aces in the match.

Schultz’s strong emotions and energy help make her a dominant player, Prior Lake coach Mike Dean said.

“When she can keep the emotions in control and allow her physical abilities to do what they’re capable of, it’s pretty special,” Dean said. “We’re lucky to have her.”

Schultz, who was named to the 2013 All-Conference team, leads the Lakers with 271 kills and 60 aces. She also has a team-high 19 blocks.

Celebrating after kills and aces is not something Schultz does to draw attention to herself, but to pump up her teammates.

“I just have to realize it’s for the team and what I’m doing is for the team,” she said. “Whenever I do something good, the team does something good, as well. So, I got to celebrate not only myself, but the team.”

Exaltation was not the only emotion Schultz displayed during the match. 

Early in the first set, Schultz mishit a ball that rolled straight off her wrist into the ground. Schultz just laughed as opposing fans yelled “loser.”

“Some mistakes you have to laugh at,” Schultz said. “It’s a very mental game, so you can’t get in your head a lot. You have to be able to shake it off and move on.”

Dean said Schultz has improved her mental focus and minimized the impact of her mistakes.

“We try not to make our players live and die with one swing and one point,” he said. “We want them to think about the game in totality.”

Schultz’s focus for after high school is playing college volleyball while studying neuroscience and psychology, preferably at Texas Christian University.

The ambitious majors came from a desire to learn more about the brain after Schultz saw a neurologist for constant migraines.

Migraines are no longer a problem for Schultz and won’t affect her play as her team ties to win a section and state championship. She is positive the Lakers can win both.

“Oh yeah, definitely,” she said with a confident smile.

Junior outside hitter Lara Schultz turned in a dominating performance with 13 kills and four aces as Prior Lake secured the South Suburban Conference title with a 25-17, 14-25, 27-25, 25-22 victory Tuesday at Lakeville South High School.

Junior outside hitter Ella Francis had 12 kills for the Lakers, ranked No. in the Minnesota Volleyball Coaches Association's Class 3A poll.

Lakeville South’s Jenny Mosser put pressure on the Prior Lake defense with her 20 kills. The sophomore outside hitter also had three block assists to help the Cougars win the second set by 11 points.

Senior setters Claire Ritchie and Jade Tinglehoff combined for 12 kills and 43 assists for Lakeville South, No. 7-3A.

In a match featuring great defensive efforts by both teams, Prior Lake senior libero Brittany Luethmers stood out with 31 digs. Luethmers recently became the state's career digs leader, breaking the record of 1,802 digs held by Jordan's Brittany Chambers.

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