Michael's Swim Meet!

Here are some previews of Michael's swim meet!  He had a great weekend! Click the link below:

50 yd Breaststroke (Saturday)

100 yd freestyle

50 Freestyle (Sunday)


He got a ribbon Saturday for 8th place in the 50yd backstroke.  Michael was first in his heat, and 8/35 overall!

Michael's freestyle relay also got 3rd place today!

Prior Lake volleyball is going to state!!

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.” 

First Report

Prior Lake stayed in control throughout its match against Shakopee en route to a 25-19, 25-19, 25-19 victory in the Class 3A, Section 2 championship.

Motivated by last season's loss in the section final to eventual Class 3A state champion Chaska, the Lakers claimed their first section title and state tournament bid. 

Back again in the title match for sections!!

The Prior Lake volleyball team is again a win shy of state.

The top-seeded Lakers looked dominant in the Section 2AAA semifinals Nov. 5 with an easy three-set home win over fourth-seeded Hutchinson (25-17, 25-19, 25-17) to earn a spot in the title match for a second straight year.

The opponent is seventh-seeded Shakopee, somewhat of a surprise. Nevertheless, it's an all South Suburban Conference final.

The Lakers (26-4) will take on the Sabers (20-10) Nov. 7 at Waconia High School at 6 p.m. Prior Lake swept Shakopee in SSC play back on Sept. 29 (25-14, 25-18, 25-13).

The Lakers also earned a relative easy four-set home win over eighth-seeded Waconia in the quarterfinals Oct. 30 (25-17, 25-7, 25-27, 25-8).

Shakopee's road to the final has gone through second-seeded Eden Prairie in the quarterfinals and third-seeded Chaska in the semifinals, both five-set wins

The Class 3A state tournament is Nov. 12-14 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. State pairings will be released Nov. 6 and will be available at www.mshsl.org.

Last year, the Lakers were the No. 1 seed in the section, won their first two matches by sweep, before getting swept in the final by Chaska. The Hawks went on to win the Class 3A title.

Against Hutchinson, the Lakers were in control from start to finish. Sophomore CC McGraw looked like the most dominant player on the floor in the first two sets and she was playing on the back line.

McGraw had multiple diving digs and back-to-back ace serves. She needed 32 digs to break Brittany Luethmers' single-season school mark of 511 set last year. McGraw finished with 22, adding three ace serves.

"CC is doing really special things for us in the back row and continues to steal points from the other team," said Lakers coach Mike Dean. "Her ability to cover so much ground also helps to make our other defenders better in the back row. She is also serve receiving at an amazingly high level and that helps Ellie and all of our hitters run our offense more effectively."

Senior Ella Francis needed 16 kills against Hutchinson to break Lauren Viren's single-season mark of 422 set in 2003. She ended up with 11. Francis is already the Lakers' all-time kills leader.

Junior Anna Martin led in kills against the Tigers with 13, while sophomore Kayla Bair had six. Sophomore Maddy Bremer led in blocks with four, while Bair and junior Ellie Veldman each had two.

Sophomore Hannah Reis chipped in 11 digs, while Veldman had nine and Francis and senior Danielle Sorensen both have seven.

Veldman added 33 set assists to push her Lakers' single-season record to 845.

"We have seen a lot of growth in Ellie and how she runs our team," said Dean. "We have a lot good hitters and Ellie has kept improving on how she runs the team and distributes the sets."

If Prior Lake can beat Shakopee, it will match the Lakers' single-season record for wins in a season, which was set last year (27-3). Prior Lake would have a chance to break that mark at state.

Had a GREAT time at ISU!!

Especially with a Cyclone win for both volleyball and football!  

GO CYCLONES!!