By Joe Kavanaugh

For 605 Sports

A school making its first state tournament appearance in 42 years and a squad with a lengthy Class B State Tournament resume matched up in Thursday opening session action at the Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls.

Experience with the bright lights of the big stage had the better of it on Thursday as the Burke Cougars kicked off the team’s fourth consecutive appearance with a convincing three-set sweep, 25-16. 25-12, 25-13, over a determined but error-prone Kadoka Area Kougars squad.

After the two teams went toe-to-toe and a five-all tie at the outset, Burke gradually pulled away behind big hits by senior Kailee Frank (a game-high 14 kill) and junior Emmie Hausmann (17 kills) and a stellar team defense. The result: a 13-5 run midway through the set led to the 25-16 first set win.

“It felt good to come out and make our statement right away that we are here,” said Frank who has been with the Cougars varsity since the seventh grade. “We came out strong and knew that we had to stay on our offense because they had some big girls who can put the ball away. So, we wanted to come out, win that first set, get that momentum, and keep pushing from that.”

Burke coach Billie Jo Indahl shared that assessment.

“It was big to win that first set,” Indahl said. “The girls have the adrenalin going, the nerves are tight. I felt we had a little bit of an edge since we have been here before and seen this situation before but, yes, winning that first set helped to settle things down.”

A rash of Kadoka Area attack errors, often the result of perhaps trying to be overly aggressive with less-than-ideal passes, stymied any hopes of a late opening set rally.

“We just couldn’t’ get our passing down,” said Kadoka Area coach Maggie Thompson. “We made some good plays, got some digs and some blocks but they were really scrappy. They came to play and I really think first-time jitters got to us, the first time being here in this big space.”

Burke's Kailee Frank (7) hits through the defense of Kadoka Area's Bella Williams (16) during a match in the first round of the Class B state tournament on Thursday at the Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls. (Matt Gade/605 Sports)

The second set followed a similar scenario. Tied at 3-3, Burke utilized a serving turn by Frank in the rotation to reel off 14 unanswered points, a result keyed by a combination of service aces and Kadoka Area service return errors. That combination coupled with outstanding court coverage by the Burke backrow that made it difficult for Kadoka Area to find an unoccupied spot on the floor even when big swing opportunities presented.

“I was so proud of their scrappiness particularly on the defensive side where we kept balls alive,” Burke coach Billie Jo Indahl said. “We work hard on that in practice and, yes, I’m so impressed with how we played. That’s exactly how we want to play when we come out tomorrow night.”

Burke tallied the final five points in a similar fashion: Kills by Frank and Hausmann and three Kadoka attack errors.

Down two sets to nil, Kadoka displayed a grittiness of their own battling hard in the third set grabbing an early lead before, down 7-9 following one of Bella Williams’ 14 kills on the night.

Unfortunately, the bugaboo of errors resurfaced and coupled with a Burke squad that continued to dig big hits (Kyrie Matucha had a team-leading 13), pass effectively to setter Emmy Spencer (14 assists), and put away big swings.

The Burke advantage steadily ballooned before another Kadoka error, a net violation, closed out the match 25-13.

In addition to Williams 12 kill output, Madisyn Nemechek added 8 kills while Kassidee Williams contributed 19 set assists.

With the win, Burke (34-3) advances to a Friday 5 p.m. semifinal matchup with top-seeded Chester (30-2) while Kadoka Area (31-4) moves into the lower bracket and will face Castlewood (19-11) on Friday at 11 a.m.