St. Charles North star Haley Burgdorf is ready for new challenge after commitment to Penn State

Haley Burgdorf has always known that she wanted to play college volleyball in the Big 10.

The junior outside hitter from St. Charles North would say it too. Coach Lindsey Hawkins remembers her as a seventh grader coming to the gym talking about how she was going to play at Wisconsin.

So when another top program in the conference in Penn State reached out to her with some interest, she realized that her dreams were slowly becoming a reality.

“The feeling is amazing, it’s always been my dream to play in the Big 10,” Burgdorf said. “Just watching the tournaments and those big matches against teams like Nebraska or Wisconsin is amazing. So I’m really excited to play there.”

The Nittany Lions finished 23-9 in 2023 and finished third in the highly-touted conference behind Nebraska and Wisconsin, who knocked them out in the third round of the NCAA Tournament. They’re also the only program to have appeared in every NCAA Tournament since its inception in 1981.

Burgdorf ended up taking an official visit to State College, Pennsylvania, in early July. And after meeting the team members and seeing their winning culture first-hand, she knew she found a new home.

“I loved the campus, but it was really the coaches and the winning culture,” Burgdorf said. “My dream is to play in the NCAA Tournament and to win a national championship with them, so that really drew me in. And the coaches and players were so nice, and they were making me feel at home from the beginning.”

But with her future set, her focus has shifted to the present where she faces a new challenge: being a vocal leader for St. Charles North.

It’s not like she hasn’t had experience with it though. After losing four seniors to injury throughout last season, Hawkins said that despite being one of the younger players on the team, the then-sophomore ended up taking on some of that responsibility head on.

“She’s always been a leader by example, just because she works so hard. But she wasn’t expecting to have to lead vocally and be in charge,” Hawkins said. “She had to shoulder a ton of the burden last year, not just with getting the ball, but also rallying the troops and getting everyone focused. It’s something most sophomores don’t have to do.”

Part of the reason that she was never a vocal leader was because she’s always been one of the younger players on every team she’s been on, even in club settings, where she would play in leagues mostly filled with players two years older than her.

But after losing eight seniors to graduation heading into the 2024 season, Burgdorf has gone from one of the youngest players on the team to one of the oldest and most experienced. And with a majority of the junior class making the move up to the varsity level, she’s excited to establish a foundation with them for the future.

“We have to stay in a leadership role, especially players like me and Mia McCall since we’ve been on JV and varsity since our freshman year,” Burgdorf said. “We’ve kind of expected to take that role and lead the freshmen and sophomores and teach them about what it’s like to play at the varsity level and the culture that we want.”

And with the expectation of leadership looming on her shoulders, Burgdorf knows that having that quality as a player will help elevate her game, whether at the high school level or when she heads off to Penn State in two years.

“If you’re going to see the court your freshman year, you have that leadership role to talk with other people and then get feedback from those other people,” Burgdorf said. “And all those other girls on the team have likely been through the same thing, so it’s that communication and leadership that’ll help you talk through things and be more confident in what you’re doing.”

But for now, her focus is on helping the North Stars take that next step and going on to win a state championship. And Hawkins said that she couldn’t be more excited to see her make that jump in the upcoming season.

“To say that I’m excited to see her play this year is an understatement,” Hawkins said. “I think she’s just going to blossom in that leadership role and playing wise. And she’s had to bear the burden for us since her freshman year and had a huge impact on this program.”