St. Charles North’s Haley Burgdorf can’t resist swinging at the ball with all her might.
The junior outside hitter jumps so high, and swings with such power, that some of her kills are nearly vertical.
“Sometimes I have to tell her, ‘Stop swinging for the straight-down kill. Swing high. You’re jumping over these kids,’” St. Charles North coach Lindsey Hawkins said. “Even our girls at practice will be like, ‘Really, we’ve got to go against Haley?’
“But part of what makes them so good at defense is that they go up against her all day long.”
Burgdorf, a Penn State commit, doesn’t get tired of swinging so hard.
“Absolutely not,” Hawkins said. “And if she does, she won’t tell you.”
Burgdorf confirmed fatigue hasn’t set in yet.
“I love taking a swing at the ball, and it’s amazing every time what I can do,” Burgdorf said. “Sometimes I just let the arm do what it does, but then most of the time I’m doing it perfectly.
“But I never get tired of swinging. I want to swing at every single ball.”
Burgdorf swung at plenty on Tuesday, when she recorded 16 kills and two blocks in the second-seeded North Stars’ 25-23, 25-16 win against third-seeded Metea Valley in the Class 4A West Aurora Sectional semifinals.
Several of her kills, including the first-set clincher that completed St. Charles North’s rally from a 21-17 deficit, hit the floor and bounced more than 10 feet into the air.
“We did a great job of slowing her down and forcing other people on St. Charles North to gain some points in the first set, and then of course she came alive in the second,” Metea Valley coach Dave Macdonald said.
“She got that big kill at the end of the first, which you know is going to happen. You’re going to go to your big stud to put the game away, and then she got on fire a little bit, and obviously the rest is history.”
Indeed, Burgdorf had 10 kills in the second set, propelling the North Stars (32-6) to the sectional championship match to play top-seeded Benet (37-1) at 6 p.m. Thursday.
Burgdorf has 594 kills this season. That’s three times as many as any of her teammates have, but they don’t seem to mind.
“It’s obviously great,” St. Charles North junior setter Mia McCall said. “It really instills a lot of confidence in myself knowing I have that option.
“She helps out the rest of the team, getting the rest of the team an open net to swing at, because the blockers commit with her.”
Burgdorf appreciates McCall’s commitment to feeding her the ball.
“Mia does such a great job putting the ball up for me, and it just helps me visualize the court and see what’s open,” Burgdorf said. “And then I’m able to move the ball around and sometimes get that bounce ball, which always feels amazing.”
Burgdorf said she thought she started off shaky against Metea Valley (28-9) but was boosted by her teammates.
“We’re all there for each other and hyping each other up,” Burgdorf said. “It was really great for me to come out of my comfort zone and be able to show in the second set what I can really do.”
Once Burgdorf gets going, she doesn’t stop.
“She’s got a motor,” Hawkins said. “We’ll get out of practice and she’ll go do an extra workout. That kid has got the work ethic and the heart that gives her that X factor. There’s a reason why she’s so good.”
Matt Le Cren is a freelance reporter.
