By Rich Winter

605 Sports

BURKE — When Kailee Frank’s family moved to Burke prior to her kindergarten year, a future as a Cougar volleyball player seemed likely. 

Kailee’s mother Mandy was hired as an assistant coach for the Cougars, and Kailee spent her formative years around volleyball and was always in the gym.

“When her mom became an assistant coach, Kailee and my daughters Taylee and Adisyn were in the gym all the time,” Burke coach Billie Jo Indahl said. “After that Kailee became a ball girl and has been a part of the program ever since.”

And as a result, Frank has helped the Cougars become a Class B volleyball powerhouse. The Class B No. 2 Cougars are 23-1, sport a 22-match winning streak, and Frank has been a part of three consecutive trips to the state tourney. In the past four years, Frank and the Cougars have a record of 118 wins and 23 losses.

As she nears the end of her high school volleyball career, Frank has some fond memories with the people she loves the most. 

“I feel like we have built a culture here at Burke,” she said. “Being there since I was a little kid this has always felt like a second family. Being around these girls all the time you get to know them a lot and we are truly a family.” 

If it seems like Frank has been playing for Burke for a long time, that’s because she has. Frank first saw time as a seventh-grader playing the libero position. Over the years Frank’s game has expanded all the way to first-team all-state honors in 2023 when the Cougars finished third in the Class B state tournament. 

Frank said she had some tremendous role models in front of her.

“Honestly, I learned the most from the Indahls,” she said. “They were always such great players and I wanted to be like them someday.” 

Coach Indahl introduced her daughters to defense at an early age and said she did the same thing with Frank.

“She’s played every position for us and had some great role models in front of her,” Indahl said. “She started at libero and then moved to a right-side hitter and an outside hitter and has developed into an all-around player. She’s worked her way into some very important roles like being that go-to outside hitter and a go-to serve receiver and that’s why her stats stand out.”

Heading into Oct. 15’s home match against Andes Central/Dakota Christian, Frank has 1,544 digs, 1,338 kills and 264 aces. 

“She’s a gym rat for sure in every sport she does,” Indahl said. “She doesn’t settle for anything, wants to be the best and always gives her best. She encourages everyone around her to do their best and she’s just an amazing all-around athlete.”

 In any given year the Burke volleyball team has been filled with some upperclassmen and an influx of younger talent, in supporting roles. The 2024 Burke team has six seniors that include Frank, Bridget Eliason, Addi Hood, Ava Sargent and twins Paige and Olivia Bull. 

Frank feels like her large senior class, and the experience gained, has been instrumental to the team’s success so far this season. 

“I think we have been together so long that we know each other’s tendencies,” she said. “At this point we are a cohesive unit and we blend really well together. We have an all-around type team and we have the girls that if someone is having an off night someone else can pick the slack up.” 

Sargent has been the team’s starting setter for the last four years and has over 1,600 career assists. Paige Bull, a 6-foot-1 middle blocker and hitter, has been a mainstay in the Burke rotation since her freshman year and has 790 career kills and 180 solo blocks to her name. 

At 6-feet-1 Paige Bull (#29) provides an intimidating presence at the net - (Rodney Haas / 605 Sports)

“This is the first team in a long time that has been primarily upperclassmen,” Indahl said. “Normally we have a lot of younger kids, sometimes an eighth grader that plays roles for us. These girls are all seniors which seems crazy because it seems like yesterday they were just ball girls.” 

Throw in junior libero Kyrie Matucha and junior outside hitter Emmie Hausmann and Burke has a deep and experienced team that has been through the wars together. 

“They are experienced, great leaders on and off the court and they play really well together,” Indahl said. “I feel like we have a diverse amount of attackers at the net, and not just one or two. We can go to any six of our hitters and we feel like they can do something at the net.”  

Burke has three tournament titles to their name this year having won the Gregory tournament, the Arlington tournament and the recently completed Great Plains Conference tournament. Indhal noted this is the first year in program history that Burke went 5-0 at a very tough Arlington tournament. 

For home matches the Burke gym is usually packed. Frank said that kind of support has helped provide an amazing atmosphere and a competitive advantage. 

“When you get that type of atmosphere you can really build off something,” Frank said. “The support means a lot to me and our community is supportive of everything we do.”