Haley Burgdorf — 6’0″ OH
St. Charles North High School
St. Charles, IL
Committed to Penn State on July 22, 2024
Signed with Penn State on November 12, 2025
#29 Ranking Nationally for 2026
“I am so excited to welcome Haley to the Penn State Volleyball family. She is a dynamic high IQ six-rotation outside hitter. Her competitiveness, passion for the game and commitment to excellence make her a perfect fit to wear the blue and white at Penn State!” – Head Coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley, November 12, 2025.
Excerpts from “Prep Dig Ranks All Four Penn State Volleyball 2026 Commits Within Top 35 Nationally,” DigNittanyVolleyball, Mar. 14, 2025
Katie Schumacher-Cawley and the rest of the Penn State women’s volleyball coaching staff have done an excellent job identifying talent early and securing verbal commitments from high-level prospects, often before their profiles blow up on the national recruiting scene.
The program’s 2026 recruiting class is the latest example of Schumacher-Cawley and assistant coaches Brian Toron, Megan Hodge Easy, and Mike Henchy capitalizing on their evaluation skills and trusting what they see at camps and tournaments.
The Nittany Lions landed commitments last summer from Danielle Whitmire, Finley Krystkowiak, Haley Burgdorf, and Kendall Northern, all of whom were ranked in the top 35 of Prep Dig’s most recent 2026 national rankings, released Monday. Penn State is tied with Wisconsin and Nebraska for the most commits ranked in the top 14 with three apiece.
.@PennStateVBALL’s four 2026 commits are all within the top 35 of @PrepDig’s newly released national rankings: Danielle Whitmire (5), Finley Krystkowiak (11), Kendall Northern (14), and Haley Burgdorf (35). https://t.co/6WHfD8zGeZ
— DigNittanyVolleyball (@DigNittany) March 10, 2025
Haley Burgdorf
Burgdorf, who committed to the Nittany Lions on July 22, 2024, also improved her Prep Dig ranking by a few spots to No. 35 overall in Monday’s update. Burgdorf has a nice blend of hitting and passing skills and hails from the talent-rich Chicago area that Schumacher-Cawley thoroughly enjoys recruiting as a proud Chicagoan herself.
Burgdorf and Krystkowiak were among a handful of Penn State signees/commits who had front-row seats for Penn State’s Big Ten championship-clinching win over Nebraska on November 29 at Rec Hall. The Big Ten Network broadcast panned to them celebrating with now-freshmen Gabby Nichols and Ava Jurevicius courtside in the moments immediately following the win.
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“Haley Burgdorf Commits To Penn State Volleyball,” DigNittanyVolleyball, July 22, 2024, by Ethan Kasales
Haley Burgdorf became the third member of Penn State volleyball’s 2026 recruiting class Monday when the 6-foot outside hitter from St. Charles, Illinois, announced her verbal commitment to the Nittany Lions via her social media accounts.
Burgdorf is a rising junior at St. Charles North High School, located about 40 miles west of Chicago, and plays club volleyball for Sports Performance VBC. Burgdorf is ranked as the No. 40 overall prospect and the No. 1 outside hitter in Illinois in the 2026 recruiting class, per Prep Dig. PrepVolleyball.com has Burgdorf as the No. 68 overall prospect.
#WeAre @PennStateVBALL pic.twitter.com/kDV2IWv8Zv
— Haley Burgdorf 2026 🏐 (@haley2026) July 22, 2024
Burgdorf joined Celina, Texas, setter Danielle Whitmire and Encinitas, California, outside hitter Finley Krystkowiak in Penn State’s 2026 class. Whitmire started things off with her verbal commitment to the Nittany Lions on June 16, then Krystkowiak followed suit the very next day.
Burgdorf attended one of Penn State’s prospect camps in July and evidently made a solid impression on Katie Schumacher-Cawley and her coaching staff. Burgdorf’s ball-control skills and accurate shot selection are evident on film. Burgdorf and Krystkowiak are different types of outside hitters, but both add some exciting qualities to Penn State’s 2026 class.
The Nittany Lions also have two outside hitters committed in their 2025 class in New York’s Marin Collins and Maryland’s Alexis Ewing. Landing verbal commitments from Burgdorf and Krystkowiak early in the 2026 cycle continues an impressive run of stockpiling talent at the position in anticipation of a new era on the pins at Rec Hall.
Schumacher-Cawley, a proud Chicagoan, dipped back into her home state for Burgdorf’s commitment. During Penn State volleyball’s recent media production day, where the team took photos in their new uniforms and shot videoboard content for the coming season, Schumacher-Cawley and the rest of Penn State’s current Chicagoland products posed together with the Chicago flag.
Camryn Hannah, Gillian Grimes, Ava Falduto, and Catherine Burke stood alongside their head coach, who’s entering her third season in charge of her alma mater this fall. Schumacher-Cawley, Hannah, and Jess Mruzik will represent the program at the third annual Big Ten volleyball media days in Chicago August 5-6, the conference announced Monday.
Burgdorf is a regular USA volleyball NTDP invitee and has participated in several Under Armour Next camps. While Burgdorf prepares for her junior season at St. Charles North, the Nittany Lions will be building toward their anticipated season opener against Tennessee on Friday, August 30 in Knoxville.
Below is a video of Burgdorf’s highlights from this spring’s club season. Burgdorf, who wears No. 23 for her high school and club teams, served as captain for her 16 Elite squad this season. She can already touch 10’2″ according to her club team’s roster.
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