Kari Burg St. Maries Year: Senior Sport: Volleyball Position: Outside Hitter

St. Maries High School volleyball rarely makes excuses for failure. Coach Mitch Santos’ girls teams have made the state final 15 straight years.

But because the Lumberjacks haven’t won the title the last two seasons, Santos has wondered on occasion what might have been had Kari Burg been healthy.

“Sometimes coach would say, ‘If only we had Kari,’ and that made me feel bad because I knew the other girls were working hard,” Burg said.

After recovering from a foot injury that sidelined her for two seasons, Burg is back. She was a highly touted freshman on St. Maries’ last championship team three years ago.

She helped Santos coach during her recovery and has led the current team to an Intermountain League title.

“It’s hard to lead them since I haven’t been on the court for two years, but even when I was hurt, they always made me feel like part of the team,” Burg said.

Burg showed signs of rust at first and felt she wasn’t doing well the first eight matches of the year. All that changed with a 10-kill performance against Lake City and a 19-kill game with Kellogg.

“She’s the best all-around player we have on the floor,” Santos said.

Burg is looking to finish off her playing career with a state title before moving on to her real love, coaching.

“You feel a lot of pressure playing on this team, but we’ve been working really hard and we’re ready to be state champs,” Burg said.

Burg said she learned a lot about the game during the two years she sat on the bench next to Santos. Not the least of which was that she enjoyed coaching more than playing.

“After this season’s over, I’m going to coach instead of trying to play in college,” Burg said.

Burg assisted with the JV team the past two years and has helped coach the 14-and-under USVBA team in St. Maries.

Although coaching may be in the future, the present holds the challenge of returning glory to a program steeped in it.

“We feel honored just to make the team and we hope to live up to the success of the past,” Burg said.

Despite everything she does on the court, Santos might be most impressed with her feats on the Chain Lakes around St. Maries.

“Kari is one of the best bass fishers in this area, hands down,” Santos said. “We have competitions and she beats up the guys, period,” Santos said.

Next week, she hopes to reel in another state volleyball title.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo