Eagan vs. Prior Lake
7 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 28

Eagan is back on top of the polls after beating previous top-ranked Lakeville North in the finals of the Eagle Invitational at Apple Valley last Saturday.

The Wildcats (15-1) also avenged their only loss of the season, sweeping No. 4-3A Lakeville South in the semifinals. Since enduring back-to-back five-set matches against Lakeville South and Rosemount in mid-September, No. 1-3A Eagan hasn’t lost a single set.

Challenge accepted for the Wildcats, who may now be hitting on all cylinders with freshman setter Kennidi Orr, seniors McKenna Melville, Anne Wong and Ally Murphy, and junior middle Ellie Husemann.

Prior Lake (10-7) continued its bumpy ride through the fall, splitting four matches at the Eagle Invite, losing to No. 4-3A Lakeville South and No. 6-3A Shakopee while defeating No. 3-1A Bethlehem Academy and No. 8-3A Hopkins. The No. 7-3A Lakers have had trouble gaining traction against a difficult schedule, with a four-game winning streak in early September the only stretch of more than one win in a row.

Prior Lake remains dangerous, however, as four of its wins are over teams currently ranked in the top 10. College commits middle Kayla Bair (Michigan), setter/libero CC McGraw (Minnesota), Maddy Bremer (Northern Colorado) and Haley Stolt (Bemidji State) hope to establish a new extended winning streak.