RAPID CITY — On occasion, quarterfinals take on a form worthy of a semifinal or state title volleyball match. Class B’s opening clash between Platte-Geddes and Burke certainly lived up to that standard.
Top-seeded Platte-Geddes squeaked by eighth-seeded Burke in five sets on Thursday afternoon at the Summit Arena. Set scores were 25-15, 17-25, 25-23, 21-25 and 16-14.
“It was a bit of a roller coaster,” said Platte-Geddes coach Melissa Johnson. “I think the girls came out ready for the pressure of state, but once the match started rolling it was up and down a little bit.”
After splitting the opening two sets, it was Burke who jumped out to a 17-10 lead in the third set, but the Black Panthers (33-4) stormed back to steal the set, 25-23, and take the 2-1 set advantage.
The Cougars (29-9) displayed resolve of their own, recovering immediately to win a back-and-forth fourth set and force a deciding fifth set, but they couldn’t overcome the final hurdle. Burke tied the fifth set twice in the late going after falling behind by two points, first at 11 and then at 13, but Platte-Geddes denied them the lead on both occasions.
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It was the third installment this season of the Region 6B rivalry, which Johnson felt only added to the quarterfinal’s competitiveness.
“Burke knew what to expect from us, just like we did with them,” Johnson said. “They got into our head a bit at times, especially with their block, but we persevered and came out ahead in the end.”
Cadence Van Zee (16), Regan Hoffman (15) and Karly VanDerWerff (12) each reached double figures in kills, and also notched 26, 14 and 13 digs, respectively. Avery DeVries put up 43 assists to go with nine digs, and Baleigh Nachtigal had 10 digs. The Black Panthers meet No. 5 Colman-Egan in Friday night’s first semifinal match.
Adisyn Indahl recorded 17 kills and 30 digs, leading the Cougars in both categories, as Kailee Frank chipped in 14 kills, 12 digs and one solo block. Ava Sargent and Elly Witt had 17 and 14 assists, respectively, with Witt adding 18 digs. Elle Johnson also had 12 digs. Burke faces off with No. 4 Chester Area in the consolation bracket semifinals at 1 p.m. Central time on Friday.
