By Tom Schardin, Staff Writer

The Prior Lake boys tennis team was dealt its first Missota Conference loss of the season on May 7.

Holy Angels won three of four singles matches and two of three in doubles to end the Lakers’ hopes for a conference crown with a 5-2 victory.

“The match was a bit anticlimactic,” said Lakers coach Corey Soukup.  “Their top three singles players did a great job of controlling the match from the beginning and not letting our players get a rhythm going. We have a habit of starting a little slow and then getting going, but Holy Angels didn’t allow us to do that.”

The Lakers (7-3 overall, 5-1 in the conference) headed into the match following a 5-2 non-conference win over Lakeville North on May 1. Prior Lake  will finish the conference season today, May 8 when it plays at Farmington at 4:15 p.m. With a win, the team will take second in the conference, its highest finish ever.

The 13-team Section 2AA tournament is set to start Tuesday, May 13. The semifinals will be May 15, while the finals are set for May 20 in St. Peter. (Seeds, unavailable at press time, can be found at www.mshsl.org.).

There are two teams in the section field that are ranked in state’s top 10 – No. 6 Wayzata and No. 10 Eden Prairie.

“Our section is going to be really difficult,” said Soukup, who expects his team to earn the No. 5 or 6 seed. “Wayzata, Eden Prairie and Minnetonka are rated in the top 15 in the state. We are simply hoping to play well and see what happens.”

Other teams in the field include Chaska, Mankato East, Mankato West, New Prague, Shakopee, Orono, Willmar, Hutchinson and New Ulm.

Earning a win in singles for the Lakers in their loss to Holy Angels was junior Florian Kunz at the No. 4 spot. He won handily, 6-0, 6-0.

The Lakers’ second doubles team of juniors Brendan Rose and Karl Jacobsen was also victorious in three sets, 6-0, 4-6, 6-4.

“Florian continued his stellar play by rolling through his match,” said Soukup. “He has really given great depth to our singles lineup.  Karl and Brendan have played terrific all year. They have great confidence in themselves and have a knack for winning the big points when they need them.”

Against Lakeville North, the Lakers won three of four in singles and took two of three in doubles.

Kunz won 6-2, 6-2 at fourth singles, while junior Tyler Nelson won 6-4, 6-2 at second singles and sophomore Matt Klein won 7-5, 6-4 at third singles.

In doubles, the No. 2 team of seniors Matt Bruns and Kevin Bruns earned a 6-3, 7-5 victory, while the No. 3 team of juniors Mike Dybvik and Brad Farrell won in three sets, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6.

“Lakeville North was a good match for us,” said Soukup. “We came out right away and worked through the wind to get some tough wins. Lakeville has had our number, knocking us out of section play the last two years.

“The doubles win by Kevin and Matt Bruns was an important win for them and the team,” added Soukup. “They led 5-2 in the third set, but Lakeville battled back to a 5-5 tie. Kevin and Matt won the last two games to give us the fourth point on the day, and showed that they could close out the match when it appeared the momentum had shifted.”

The Lakers had a non-conference match with Rosemount scheduled for May 3, but it was cancelled. The team’s non-conference match with Mankato East, which was scheduled for May 7, was also cancelled because rain postponed the Holy Angels match the day before and that conference match was pushed back one day.

The Section 2AA individual tournament will start May 23 with the title matches in singles and doubles set for May 27.

This year’s state tournament is set for June 3-6 at the Baseline Tennis Center on the University of Minnesota campus.