By Tom Schardin, Staff Writer

The Prior Lake girls tennis team has already matched its win total from last year.

The Lakers needed only four matches to match its two wins from last season, which included a 5-2 victory over South St. Paul in the season opener on Aug. 18. The Lakers followed that match winning one of three matches in the Lakeville Invitational on Aug. 20.

“It’s nice for the girls to get a good strong start to the season and to get a win right away,” said Lakers coach Corey Soukup. “It took us a while to get our first win last year, so it means a lot to start with that, and not feel the pressure to get a win throughout the season.”

The Lakers were 2-16 overall last fall (0-7 in the Missota Conference). Soukup returns his entire team from a year ago, so there’s hope the team will be much more competitive.The Lakers’ one win in the Lakeville invite was 6-1 over Faribault. The team had 6-1 losses to both Lakeville North and Holy Angels.

Against South St. Paul, Soukup tried some new doubles combinations and the results were good. The Lakers won all three doubles matches in the victory.

The No. 1 team of Kristen Tusa and Leah Peterson earned a 6-2, 6-2 victory, while the No. 3 team of Bailey Freer and Janessa Anderson also won handily, 6-0, 6-2.

The No. 2 doubles team of Madison Skalecki and Brittany Jaderston won in three sets, 6-1, 4-6, 6-1.

In singles, the Lakers won two of four matches. Alex Fasking won at third singles, 6-0, 6-1, while Savanna Peterson won at the fourth spot, 6-0, 6-1.

“Madison and Brittany had a great start and then stumbled a bit in the second set,” said Soukup. “But they were able to finish off the third set convincingly. We will continue to move players around the next few matches to really find players that complement each other on the court.”

In the loss to Lakeville North, the Lakers’ lone win came at No. 1 singles. Amanda Bigby won in three sets, 4-6, 6-4, 10-4.

Fasking and Freer won at No. 2 doubles for the Lakers’ only win against Holy Angels. The duo earned a 6-4, 6-4 victory.

In the victory over Faribault, the Lakers swept all four singles matches. Bigby won 6-4, 2-6, 10-6 at the No. 1 spot, while Caitlyn Gengler won 6-2, 6-2 at the second spot. Savanna Peterson won 6-4, 6-2 and third singles, while Freer won 6-3, 6-3 at the No. 4 spot.

In doubles, the No. 2 team of Leah Peterson and Jaderston won 6-3, 5-7, 10-7, while the No. 3 team of Skalecki and Anderson won 6-2, 7-5.

“Everyone played very well and we are starting to see the progress from hard work during the summer,” said Soukup. “We hope that it signals continued smart, consistent play over the next few weeks.”

The Lakers are back on the court on Friday, Aug. 22 when the play host to Burnsville in a non-conference match at 10 a.m. The team will play its second straight Lake Conference opponent on Tuesday, Aug. 26 when it plays host to Bloomington Jefferson at 2 p.m.

The Prior Lake Invitational is set for Aug. 28 starting at 9 a.m.