Last act starts now for Prior Lake volleyball

Coach Michael Dean likes to look at the volleyball season as if it were broken up into three parts: an early-season, team-building period; a middle section during which his Prior Lake team starts to gel, and a final stretch run when the Lakers peak heading into the playoffs.

There's no looking ahead for the Lakers, Dean said, no matter how tempting it might be with Prior Lake's talented lineup.

Prior Lake (14-2, 4-0) looks to be among the favorites in Class 3A. The Lakers are the only unbeaten team (4-0) in South Suburban play, and have ranked among the top five in state all season.

"They're the most athletic team I've ever had — that we've ever had," said Dean, who is in his 12th season with the program. "They're very aggressive, and they're a lot of fun to coach. I'm lucky to have these kind of girls in the gym each day. It's a lot of fun."

Senior libero Brittany Luethmers said she was nervous entering the season. The Lakers lost a lot of seniors from the 2013 squad, and expected to rely on a number of underclassman this fall.

Then, they lost their opening match 3-2 against Owatonna.

"I thought it might take a while," Luethmers said. "But we just stayed focused."

"We practice for everything, every scenario in practice," Luethmers added. "We're never surprised by what a team does, or what comes up in a match. So, all we have to do is relax and play."

It's been a true team effort, Lara Schultz said, with players from all grades making key contributions.

Schultz is second on the team in kills with 177, behind fellow junior Ella Francis's 183, and leads the team with service aces and blocks.

A core group of seniors includes Luethmers, Sammi Pratt, Olivia Ferrer and Shannah Carter. Freshman CC McGraw plays a bige role in the Laker defense and has 142 digs, second only to Luethmers' 253. Sophomore Anna Martin is a regular in the rotation.

Opponents have struggled to match up against the Prior Lake depth.

It's just a matter of keeping the momentum going, Francis said. If the Lakers can stay focused, then "a state championship is a reasonable goal," she said.

After Tuesday's match with Shakopee (completed after this edition of the paper was printed), Prior Lake has just five matches left in the regular season.

"Success isn't just measured in wins; it's also how much better we get," Schultz said. "But, our main goal is to get to state. That's measured by wins."