The Prior Lake volleyball team is still trying to get to a higher level.

The No. 5-ranked Lakers needed five sets to win their South Suburban Conference opener Sept. 12, knocking off Rosemount at home (22-25, 25-21, 25-14, 21-25, 15-13).

Prior Lake (7-3 overall) went into the match going 3-2 at the Southwest Minnesota Challenge in Marshall Sept. 8-9. The Lakers won their first three matches over Yellow Medicine East (25-19, 25-11), St. Michael-Albertville (25-18, 25-23) and Marshall (20-25, 25-13, 15-13), before losing their last two to No. 8 Lakeville South (25-21, 25-23) and No. 3 Champlin Park (25-20, 25-23).

Prior Lake has a big home SSC match Sept. 14 versus No. 2 Lakeville North at 7 p.m. The Panthers won the challenge in Marshall.

In beating Rosemount, senior Kayla Bair led the Lakers with 15 kills, while senior Haley Stolt ended up with 13. Senior Maddy Bremer chipped in eight.

Senior CC McGraw led in set assists with 39, adding 15 digs and five ace serves. Senior Hannah Reis had 16 digs, while Stolt had 11. Bair also led at the service line with seven aces, while senior Emma Brostrom had two.

In blocks, Brostrom and senior Sydney Trees each had three, while Stolt and Bremer both had two.

Down in Marshall, Brostrom finished with 40 total kills in the five matches to lead the Lakers, adding digs, five blocks and four ace serves. Bair had 27 kills, seven aces and seven blocks, while Trees had 14 kills, seven digs and three blocks.

Sophomore Dezirae Spratt chipped in 13 kills, 18 digs and four ace serves for Prior Lake, while Reis had six aces and 20 digs. Senior Megan Palmer had 19 set assists and three aces, while junior Katie Brostrom had 14 assists and three aces.

Senior Marissa Machalek and Paige Benson each chipped in 11 digs.

Stolt, Bremer and McGraw did not compete for the Lakers.