The Prior Lake volleyball team is getting tested against some top competition.

The Lakers opened the South Suburban Conference season with a pair of three-set losses, falling Sept. 11 at No. 4-ranked Eagan (25-13, 25-15, 25-18) and Sept. 13 at No. 2 Lakeville North (25-17, 25-18, 24-14).

Prior Lake went into those two matches going 2-3 at the Southwest Minnesota Challenge in Marshall.

The Lakers’ wins were against Owatonna (25-11, 25-15) and St. Michael-Albertville (25-22, 25-22), before falling to Lakeville North (25-20, 25-17), Minneota (25-14, 32-34, 15-9) and Marshall (25-15, 25-15).

Minneota is ranked No. 2 in Class 1A, while Marshall is No. 4 in Class 2A.

The Lakers will play at No. 9 Northfield Sept. 17, before returning to league action Sept. 20 versus Farmington. Both start at 7 p.m.

Prior Lake will also compete in the Eagle Invitational in Apple Valley Sept. 21-22, which annually features many of the state’s top teams. Brackets can be found at http://applevalleyvolleyball.com when they are released.

The Lakers (4-6 overall) are also home to No. 5 Minnetonka Sept. 24 in battle of Section 2AAA foes at 7 p.m.

In the loss to Eagan, ninth-grader Julia Hanson led the Lakers with eight kills, while junior Rachel Ring had six and junior Dezirae Spratt recorded three.

Senior Katie Brostrom finished with 15 setting assists, while sophomore Lainey VanHecke had four. Brostrom and sophomore Camille Libert each had an ace serve.

In digs, Brostom led with six, while senior Hannah Skroch had five and Spratt had three. Libert led the Lakers in blocks with two.

Against Lakeville North, Hanson had eight kills, while Spratt had seven and Ring and Libert both had four. Brostrom had 17 set assists and seven digs.

Hanson had two ace serves, while Brostrom and Skroch both had one. Skroch and Hanson each had seven digs, while Spratt had five. In blocks, Libert led with three.

In Marshall, Hanson finished with 47 total kills in the five matches, adding 12 digs and four blocks. Spratt had 33 kills, five ace serves and 18 digs, while Brostrom recorded 65 setting assists and seven digs.

Ring finished with 14 kills and two blocks, while Libert had 12 kills, four aces and three blocks.

Skroch led in digs with 35, adding three aces, while senior Paige Benson had 23 digs and two aces and VanHecke added 31 set assists, two aces and seven digs.

Junior Kaitlin Becker chipped in two aces and three blocks for Prior Lake, while ninth-grader Alex Lloyd had two kills and junior Grace Kashmark and senior Emma Brower each had two blocks.