After an incredible regular season, Volleyball falls to Lakers

Student sections roaring, tensions flowing, as the Royals are looking to not let history eliminate them, as they did last year. The Lakers are 20-12 with a 6-5 conference record.

The Lakers took the first set by a close score of 25-22. The Royals led in the block category 2-1, but they were struggling to return the powerful hits form the Lakers. The Lakers student section was loud and energetic right off the bat, and the players on the court were no different.

“Going into the match, I was nervous since I know Prior Lake travels well. Their student section was definitely loud and a bit in your face, but it’s just a matter of settling into our game and tuning them out,” Katie Newman, senior, said.

Late in the second set the Royals were sown 18-23 and started playing with a sense of urgency. The Prior lake players, nor the fans, didn’t seem to let down their energy all set. Despite a late push from the Royals, the Royals fell to the lakers in the second set by a score of 25-20.

“We’ve been in that position before and we’ve pulled through. I wasn’t worried at all,” Chudear Tut, sophomore, said.

The Royals started off the third set strong, by winning the first point, but gave up the next four to the Lakers. The Royals student section started to get loud early in the set, but the game was back and forth the whole first part of the set. Midway through the set, the Royals took the 14-13 lead, that was soon tied up by the Lakers at 14 a piece.

Student sections were going at it throughout the third, and neither team could gain consistent momentum. Two missiles in a row from Anna Erickson, junior, make it 20-19 Lakers.

Roars in every direction, as the Laker are two points away from completing the sweep at 22-20. The Lakers complete the sweep with a third set victory of 25-21.

“It wasn’t our best game by any means. Teams are going to have ups and downs, and we are no exception. A lot of it was a mental game and we just got into our own heads a lot,” Newman said. “We had our moments, definitely, but we ended on a high, so we can hopefully continue that throughout the rest of the tournament,”

The Royals play at the Xcel Energy Center against the Forest Lake tomorrow, and are hoping to win the next three games, and take the consolation championship. Any game they lose from here on is sudden death elimination for the Royals.

“From the way we played, we deserved to lose. Prior lake was just doing things a little bit better than us” Tut said.