Haley Burgdorf’s 24-kill night give St. Charles North lone ownership of DuKane Conference with win over Geneva

GENEVA – Haley Burgdorf brought the boom. That’s just what she does.

And with a chance to secure sole possession of first place in the DuKane Conference for St. Charles North with a win over Geneva, she did just that.

The Penn State commit put up 24 kills, a new career high at the high school level, to help the North Stars to a three-set victory – 25-20, 21-25, 25-19 – over the Vikings and the conference title for the second straight season.

“She’s just unreal. She’s doing what no other high school player has done before. Not that I’ve seen,” North Stars coach Lindsey Hawkins said. “She is controlling both nets and with her swing. She’s just so good all around and she’s a huge help to the team.”

Eleven of Burgdorf’s kills came in the third set. It was the first time that St. Charles North (25-8, 7-0 DuKane) had gone to a third set against a conference opponent this season. Five of the kills in the third set came during an 8-2 run the North Stars had at the beginning of the set for a lead they would not relinquish.

“I just had to realize what they were doing on defense and knowing what I could run that they wouldn’t be ready for,” Burgdorf said. “I shot a lot of two and four balls but also had a lot of deep corner shots that they were not stopping at all. I just had to mix it up while staying confident in what I’m doing.”

Also having a career night at the net for St. Charles North was junior Amber Czerniak, who finished with eight kills, including four in the final set.

Hawkins said that while Burgdorf usually is the one getting the spotlight, Czerniak usually is the one doing the dirty work for the team.

“She really is the unsung hero of the team,” Hawkins said. “We keep her on the service line a lot because she’s lethal back there and then she’ll usually be the one getting touches off the block. She gets overshadowed a lot but she’s the one doing the dirty work for us.”

The North Stars took a highly contested first set that saw both teams flipping the lead. A 4-0 run gave St. Charles North a 17-14 lead that it wouldn’t give up. The North Stars went on to win the set 25-20.

Geneva (20-15, 5-2) refused to back down. The Vikings started the second set with a 9-4 lead and they never let the North Stars get to within three as Geneva went on to win the set 25-21. It was the only set the North Stars lost in conference play.

“We know we can play with these good teams. We’ve just got to work on finishing the game and not letting one error become another,” Geneva coach Lauren Kosecki said. “That second game, we did a real nice job. We set our eyes on the prize and we just kept going. We’ve got to continue to do that throughout the entire match.”

Leading the way for the Vikings was senior Georgetown commit Fiona Turnbull, who finished with nine kills and six blocks. Also turning in a big performance was University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee commit Sam Vanda, who put up eight kills, three aces and two blocks.

“I told Fiona before the game that I needed her to take over at the net and get after it and she did exactly that,” Kosecki said. “She’s going to be a huge loss for us next year. And Sam also did a real nice job, though she always does. She’s one of our go-to players on the team.”