We are part of The Trust Project.
CHAMBERLAIN, S.D. — Once Burke settled in, and it didn’t take long, the points started flowing in bunches.
Playing for a trip to the state volleyball tournament in the Class B SoDak 16, the second-seeded Cougars notched a sweep of No. 15 seed Kadoka Area on Tuesday night inside the Chamberlain Armory. Set scores were 25-17, 25-16 and 25-15.
“We talked about taking charge right away, taking the lead and staying aggressive,” said Burke coach Billie Jo Indahl. “I felt like we did that for the most part. The girls stayed aggressive, kept [Kadoka] on the defensive end and found the holes on the floor.”
Despite the seed discrepancy, Kadoka Area kept pace early on, even edging in front by a couple of points at two junctures, as the opposing Cougar versus Kougar squads split the first 20 points of the match. But of the 15 points that followed, Burke won 11, putting the score at 21-14 and forcing a Kadoka timeout before closing out the frame.
Then in the second, Burke threatened to pull away, up 10-3 before the Kougars were able to mount a considerable reply. Kadoka eventually drew to within 15-12, but a pair of thunderous attacks by Adisyn Indahl restored a five-point cushion that kick-started a 10-4 run that put Burke ahead 2-0 in set count.
ADVERTISEMENT
“Staying mentally tough is something that comes with experience and an area where they’ve grown a lot,” Billie Jo Indahl said of how her team responded to Kadoka’s tough defense, particularly in the second set. “We worked a lot in practice this week on what holes would be open and I felt like they stayed locked in on those spots and continued to hit them and did a nice job.”
Kadoka eked out to an early 3-1 edge again in the third set, but the Cougars won nine of the next 11 points to double up the score at 10-5. From there, they never looked back on the way to finishing out a 3-0 sweep.
With the win, Burke (31-4) advances to the program’s second consecutive state tournament and the fifth in six years, where the Cougars will be the No. 2 seed against No. 7 seed Castlewood in the quarterfinal round. Kadoka Area’s season ended with a 16-15 record.
