It's been a big learning curve for the Prior Lake volleyball team this fall.

The young Lakers' schedule is as strong as it has been in the previous three seasons when the team won three straight Section 2AAA titles. But only two regulars returned from last year, so wins have been tougher to get.

Prior Lake earned South Suburban Conference home sweeps over Burnsville Sept. 25 (25-14, 25-11, 25-23) and Farmington Sept. 20 (25-21, 29-27, 25-16).

The Lakers also fell in three sets to No. 6-ranked Minnetonka Sept. 24 in a battle of Section 2AAA foes (25-21, 25-18, 25-20). Prior Lake went into that match going 2-2 in the Eagle Invitational in Apple Valley Sept 21-22.

Prior Lake started with a three-set win over No. 9 Stillwater (23-25, 28-26, 15-6) and followed losing to No. 4 Lakeville North (25-20, 25-17). The next day, the Lakers lost to Shakopee (15-25, 25-12, 16-14), before beating Moorhead (25-23, 25-16).

"I think we have seen a lot of growth as a team in the last week," Lakers coach Mike Dean said. " We have played some tough competition and we are starting to figure out how to play our best against the strong teams. I feel like the team is playing at that high level more consistently and that is a trend we want to continue throughout the end of the regular season and into sections.

"We still have a bunch of tough matches ahead of us and we know that those will be opportunities to keep pushing ourselves to improve," Dean added. 

Prior Lake (8-10 overall, 2-3 in the SSC) is back on the court Sept. 27 at Apple Valley in league action at 7 p.m.

The Lakers also have league matches at Rosemount Oct. 2 and at Shakopee Oct. 9 and home to No. 3 Lakevlle South Oct. 11. All three start at 7 p.m.

In beating Burnsville, ninth-grader Julia Hanson powered the Lakers with 16 kills, while junior Dezirae Spratt had seven and sophomore Camille Libert had six. Senior Katie Brostom paced the offense with 20 set assists, while sophomore Lainey VanHecke had 13.

Spratt and senior Hannah Skroch both had two ace serves. Skroch led in digs with 14, while Brostom, Spratt and senior Paige Benson each had four. Libert led in blocks with two.

Against Farmington, Hanson again led the way with 16 kills, while Spratt recorded 12. Junior Rachel Ring had seven kills and Libert finished with six. Brostrom had 21 assists, while VanHecke had 13.

Spratt led at the service line with five aces, while Brostrom had three. Skroch had 21 digs, while Benson had 13 and Spratt had 11. Libert recorded three blocks, while Spratt, senior Emma Brower, Hanson and junior Kaitlin Becker each had two.

In the loss to Minnetonka, Hanson hit double digits in kills again with 10, while Spratt had seven. Brostrom had 18 set assists, while Skroch led in digs with 12. Libert had six blocks, while Ring had three and Hanson had two.

At the invite, Hanson finished a team-best 43 kills combined in the four matches, adding 13 digs and six blocks. Spratt finished with 31 kills, five ace serves and 39 digs, while Brostrom had 53 set assists, three aces and 18 digs.

Skroch led in digs with 42, adding seven assists and three aces. VanHecke had 29 assists, 3 aces and 10 digs, while Benson had three aces and nine digs. 

Libert led in blocks with seven, adding 11 kills, while Ring finished with 15 kills and Becker had three.