By Rich Winter

When the Class B volleyball region tournaments begin Monday, Kadoka coach Barry Hutchinson and the Kadoka Kougars will be sitting on the sidelines waiting for the winner of the Lyman and Jones County playin game. 

As the No. 2 seed from Region 7 the Kougars earned a first-round bye, and with the new sweet-16 format, Hutchinson and company will be looking for far more. 

On Sep. 9, the Kougars lost in three sets, tournament play, to Philip. It was the second loss of the season to Philip, and with a loss to Harding County, Philip stood just 3-3.

Well, since then, it has been nothing short of perfection as the Kougars come into the region tournament winners of 22 consecutive matches. 

RED HOT!

Yes, there have been some snoozers in that schedule, but an emerging group led by seniors, Aybree Pitman, Tyra Fugate, Jossie Kukal and Ajiah Ortiz-Pierce won the Lead/Tournament (first-time ever) and beat a 20-8 Rapid City Christian squad in straight sets in their season finale. 

If the seeds hold, Kadoka would need to take care of Wall in the semi-finals to reach the promise land of the SWEET-16. 

And then, well, who knows, but straight up - POWER POINTS DON'T LIE!!

No. 1 - Northwestern - 47.667

No. 2 - Warner - 46.345

No. 3 - Chester Area - 46.769

No. 4. Philip - 46.276

No. 5 - Hanson - 45.654

No. 6 Kadoka Area - 45.074

No. 7 - Herried/Selby Area 45.00

No. 8 - Burke/South Central 44.233

No. 9 - Arlington - 44.069

No. 10 - Kimball/White Lake 44.000

No. 11 - Sully Buttes - 43.583

No. 12. Deubrook - 43.793

No. 13 - Canistota - 42.792

No. 14 - Harding County - 42.231

No. 15 - Lemmon - 42.185

No. 16 - Bridgewater/Emery - 41.920

There are certainly a lot of hypotheticals in this equation, and surely there will be some upsets along the way, BUT, if the seeds hold, Kadoka Area would face Sully Buttes in the sweet-16....A team the Kougars beat, (19-25) (25-22) (25-15) to start their current 22 match win streak.

Good luck KOUGARS...Can someone tell me why the name is spelled like that?