Girls volleyball: St. Charles North’s Burgdorf putting her name alongside some of best ever in Illinois

If compliments were ranked on a scale of 1-10, the one St. Charles North girls volleyball coach Lindsey Hawkins recently gave to standout outside hitter Haley Burgdorf might need to be ranked an 11.

“I have often said that getting a front-row seat to watch Haley lead is akin to watching Caitlin Clark,” Hawkins said. “At first, Caitlin Clark was playing at a speed and a level that her teammates couldn’t keep up with, but over time, their game play was raised up. They became better players simply watching Caitlin and being around Caitlin. That’s what it is like in the gym with Haley.”

And on the court this fall, Burgdorf was equally elite in helping lead St. Charles North to a 32-7 mark, an undefeated DuKane Conference title and an appearance in a Class 4A sectional championship match.

For her efforts, Burgdorf is the Captain of the 2024 Daily Herald Fox Valley All-Area girls volleyball team.

To put into perspective how dominating Burgdorf — a Penn State University commit — was on the court this season, North players swung 2,581 times in the team’s 88 sets played. Burgdorf took 1,205 of those swings, registering 611 kills (the seventh-highest single-season total in recorded Illinois High School Association history), while hitting at a .319 clip from the pin, typically with two and three sets of opposing mitts staring her in the face.

Burgdorf averaged 6.9 kills per set and led the entire state regardless of class in kills by nearly 100, according to one online statistical service. That same online outlet has Burgdorf as the most-set player in the state this season.

Additionally, Burgorf logged 11 matches against teams that played in either Class 3A or 4A sectional championship matches (including three against 4A runner-up Benet and one against 3A third-place finisher Prairie Ridge), taking 352 swings and racking up 155 kills.

“Haley is among the best elite players because she is capable of totally dominating matches,” Hawkins said. “I would say she ranks among some of the best volleyball players to ever come out of Illinois, and even rivals some of them (Hawkins mentioned recent standout names such as Grace Loberg (Geneva/Wisconsin), Ella Wrobel (Plainfield North/Wisconsin/Ohio State), Ellie White (Mother McAuley/Michigan), Taylor Landfair (Plainfield Central/Minnesota/Nebraska), Hannah Werth (Glenwood/Nebraska) and Alli Frantti (Richmond-Burton/Penn State).

“She’s not just an offensive weapon from the front row. Haley is dominating the game in all aspects.”

Burgdorf also led North in digs with 268 and was second on the team in service aces with 48.

“Most other coaches would tell you she is just as lethal attacking from the back row as she is in the front,” Hawkins said. “Haley has the ‘it’ factor — that competitive drive that makes her play with a chip on her shoulder at all times. And she is an absolute workhorse. She will often leave our gym after two hours of practice and head to another gym for jump training. Or, she will go in and get passing reps on days off. She works harder than anyone I know, so there is a reason she is as good as she is.”

Burgdorf said with big stats and flashy miles-per-hour digits on the arm swing comes more sets of hands, something she was more prepared for this season.

“I got better at mixing my shots up a lot more,” she said. “This year, I was challenged with the triple block. Benet Academy did it. I had a bunch more off-the-hands types of shots, which turned out to be really good for me. That’s how college is going to be. You have to use the hands and I wasn’t real good at that before. Being blocked like that is very challenging, but I loved it and I saw it and mixed up my shots. Obviously, I would prefer the one block or no block to get the bounce ball everybody wants to see. I think with the blocking I saw, it shows how far I have come as a player. If I see a double or triple, I know people need to double- and triple-team me to block me. It’s cool to see me come this far.”

While Burgdorf, the DuKane Conference most valuable player this year, already holds the St. Charles North career kills mark (1,239) with a year to play and became the first player in program history to go over the 1,000 career-kill mark, she takes great pride in the defensive aspect of her game.

“The best part of my game is probably my leadership or my pass to kill,” said Burgdorf, who plays for the Aurora-based Sports Performance club. “Passing is one of the things I have been working on a ton. I want to be a six-rotation player in college and maybe go further after college. Serving and passing wins 50% of the game. Add in the attacking part, and you win 100% of the game.”

Hawkins added: “Haley was definitely good her freshman and sophomore year, but she really has worked to become a more viable option from the back row and she has worked hard on her blocking.”

Hawkins said Burgdorf also puts the pedal to the floor when it comes to being a leader.

“We played a speed of volleyball this year that most of our girls were not accustomed to, but they quickly adapted to it,” she explained. “Haley has so much knowledge of the game that she readily shares with her teammates, so they are constantly learning from her in that regard, but also in the way she approaches everything she does with a tenacity. Haley wants no part of messing around. When she steps in the gym, it’s all business, but we do get her to laugh and have fun. As a team, we’ve grown because of Haley in the way we approach what we do, and the belief we have in our ability to execute what we do.”

And Burgdorf said she’s got plenty left to do at North.

“I want to remembered as a person that set a standard for the program and someone who wants everybody to get better. You have to put the hard work in if you want to do something,” she said. “I have a goal. I set the kills record this year and maybe I get that to 1,500 or 2,000 next year and hopefully that helps us get to state. St. Charles North winning state, I want to set that standard for the program. I want to be known as the girl who wanted to work for that and let it be known that’s what this program is about.”