Prior Lake experienced some bumps along its way to a historic season, but the Lakers smoothed those lumps with its depth as they achieved new heights.
Behind a multifaceted attack and outstanding defense, No. 1-ranked Prior Lake secured its first trip to the state tournament Saturday with a 25-19, 25-19, 25-19 victory over Shakopee in the Class 3A, Section 2 championship at Waconia High School.
The top-seeded Lakers (27-4) made up for last year’s 25-20, 25-9, 27-25 loss to Chaska in the section championship. The Hawks went on to claim the Class 3A state title, while the Prior Lake players kept that match in their minds leading into this season.
“It’s really special,” Lakers senior outside hitter Ella Francis said. “Losing to Chaska last year was always in our minds to get back to these section finals and win this time and make it to state.”
Francis finished with a team-high 15 kills against the Sabers and continued to lift the team in spots where it needed it. There weren’t many, but she helped Prior Lake get out of a funk in the second set and brought the third to a 4-4 tie with back-to-back kills.
“She’s done that for us all year long, so it was great to see her keep doing it,” Lakers coach Mike Dean said.
Francis led the team with 388 kills this season, becoming Prior Lake's primary offensive threat after losing standout seniors Lara Schultz and Olivia Spanton to injury earlier this year. Schultz led the Lakers in kills last season with 339 and Spanton finished third with 171.
“To think they didn’t have two players who should’ve been on the floor, which is sad for those two girls, they’d be even better,” Shakopee coach Matt Busch said.
The injuries galvanized the rest of Prior Lake's players once they stepped into new roles.
“It made us realize we had to fight more for it,” Francis said. “We just really came out today and wanted to win. We have a lot of depth on this team, so the people that came in, they were confident and had a lot of support around them to have them walk on the court and play at their highest level.”
Prior Lake junior outside hitter Anna Martin finished with 10 kills while sophomore middle hitter Kayla Bair added seven. Bair combined with sophomore middle hitter Maddie Bremer, junior outside hitter Lauren Kiewiet and junior setter Ellie Veldman to put up a stifling block that had the seventh-seeded Sabers (20-11) struggling to find hitting lanes.
“They’re just such a good blocking team,” Busch said. “We had lots of notes on what might be open the way they usually play. You just have to keep trying things. The girls tried line early, which we were going to try to do and then when that wasn’t working, they tried to mix it up.”
Dean has stressed to his team the importance of vision and moving its feet to set up the block. It was clear the team took note.
“A lot of times people just think hands, hands, hands. But if you can’t get there and you’re reaching, you’re not going to get a strong block,” Dean said. “If you’re not looking at where you’re supposed to be and where that hitter’s going to be, you’re not going to be able to set it up well.”
The balls the Lakers didn’t get blocked, sophomore libero CC McGraw was there to get. McGraw finished with a team-high 17 digs while Veldman recorded seven to go with 36 assists.
Prior Lake hit .279 for the match and overcame poor serving early. The Lakers finished serving at 87.7 percent, but had six serving errors in the first set alone.
It continued into the second set, allowing Shakopee to build a 14-8 lead before Prior Lake rallied to tie the score 16-16. The Lakers rattled off eight straight points and eventually closed out the set with a Martin kill.
Shakopee led 6-5 in the third set before Prior Lake finished off the match.
“This is pretty sweet,” Dean said. “This is my 14th year as a head coach and we’ve had some good teams that haven’t gotten here. It’s great to finally be here. We’re excited to get down and have some fun in St. Paul.”
