Haley Burgdorf Commits To Penn State Volleyball

Posted on 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.

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.