Daily Journal Athlete of the Week: Burlingame’s Ella Duong

While Burlingame students were informed of the project last school year, the reality hit them when they returned from summer break.

“None of us knew about this until the beginning of the year,” Burlingame junior Ella Duong said. “So, a lot of us were really in shock. None of us knew it was coming.”

Without a home gym, Burlingame’s volleyball team has been relegated to the road. The Panthers’ practices are all held in the neighboring city of Millbrae at the Mills High School auxiliary gym. As for the team’s games, all 25 of their regular-season matches this year will be played on the road. Next year will be the same.

The extenuating circumstances haven’t hindered the performance of Burlingame’s volleyballers, though, and Duong’s road warrior sensibilities have earned the junior Daily Journal of the Week honors. The outside hitter has fronted an 8-3 start for the Panthers, including four wins Saturday at the Half Moon Bay volleyball tournament, culminating in the tourney championship.

Not bad, considering the tough hand the team has been dealt. Not only do the upperclassmen mark the end of the COVID era, with the seniors having their freshman season of 2020 upended, and the juniors having to mask up and observe strict health guidelines when they arrived in 2021. Add to this, Duong and her three fellow juniors have played for three different coaches in three years.

Hannah Korslund took over the Burlingame varsity program this season. A graduate of John’s Hopkins University, she was the team captain as a middle blocker on the undefeated 2019 NCAA Division III national championship Blue Jays squad. She has coached on the Bay Area club volleyball circuit since 2020 and served as Burlingame’s freshman volleyball coach last year. This year marks her first varsity post.

“I love Coach K,” Duong said. “She has a lot of volleyball knowledge, so it’s been really nice learning from a middle, just different perspectives of the court, different perspectives of digging, passing and hitting.”

Korslund mapped out an ambitious schedule this season, including opening the year with back-to-back matches against Bay Area powerhouses St. Francis-Mountain View and Sacred Heart Prep. While the Panthers dropped both matches, it was a point of pride for their first-year coach that the team went to both those schools and didn’t get swept, winning one set against each. The only other loss for the Panthers came Saturday, Sept. 2 in the Chris Chandler Volleyball Invitational at Menlo School, where they fell in the semifinals to Westview-San Diego, a team off to a 12-2 start this season.

“Especially with CCS, I don’t want us to be surprised by the level of play,” Korslund said. “So, I thought it was important to get in the gym and play against … high quality opponents early on.”

Since then, Duong has led Burlingame on a six-game tear.

The Panthers won the third-place match at the Chandler tourney in three sets against Aragon, a reprieve against the same Lady Dons team that beat them in their final regular-season meeting last year; it was a significant match, as the loss cost Burlingame the outright Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division championship. The Panthers ultimately shared the 2022 league title with Aragon.

Duong recorded a double-double in the rematch with 12 kills and 16 digs. She went on to total 36 kills through four matches at the Half Moon Bay tournament, including her second double-double of the season, totaling 14 kills and 11 digs in the championship match, a three-set win over Mercy-Burlingame.

“She attacked the block well and found a lot of fast kills for us,” Korslund said. “Especially in a tournament when it’s a long day, and we’re feeling the fatigue, it helps when we have someone who can put the ball away quickly and efficiently. … It saves our legs for the whole day.”

Duong found her groove in the second match of the day, a 25-12, 25-11 win over Monterey. The junior connected with junior setter Jillian Kiniris on a key play, with Abbi Aufhauser’s dig off a free ball putting the play in motion, for one of Duong’s team-high eight kills in the match.

The connection between Duong and Kiniris carried over to the championship match. The Panthers got off to a slow start in the 18-25, 25-18, 16-14 victory. But changing the lineup to but the two juniors in the front row in the 6-2 offense flipped the script.

“We’ve actually tried a couple lineups this season but we’re still trying to figure out what lineup is going to work best for our team,” Duong said. “So, just trial and error.”

Duong has unique insight into the setter position because she played there as a freshman. She moved back to her natural outside hitter spot last season and was one of two Burlingame players to earn All-PAL Bay first-team honors, along with current senior Morgan Toomey.

“[Duong’s] shots, her decision making is great,” Korslund said. “She’s really solid moving side to side for us. She also does a great job at stepping in and taking the second ball when we need her to. … So, whenever her hands come out, it’s great. We know we’ll get a good, hittable ball from it too.”