Second-year Brighton girls volleyball coach Jenna Markey has her team back in the mix for a Region 6 title. She has brought the program back to the level of competitiveness that she enjoyed while she was a high school player at Brighton High. 

“Our senior-rich team is complemented by strong support from the underclassmen,” she said. 

Senior Isabela McMaster leads the team with 27 aces and 194 assists, while fellow senior Jordan Metcalf is second on the team in kills and aces, and first with overall digs. Junior Brooklyn Easton leads the teams in kills per set, and junior Jane Spangler has the highest hitting percentage. Freshmen Rosie Scott leads the team with 2.3 digs per set. 

“We have a great team—a good mix of experienced seniors and talented underclassmen—and we believe in ourselves. We want to make a strong run in the state tournament,” Jordan Metcalf, senior outside hitter and captain, said. 

The senior spikers are in the final games of their high school careers and are hoping for a strong region placement and a deep run into the state tournament held Oct. 31. 

A big game that was highly anticipated by the players was the Sept. 26 home match against Skyline. This region foe has won region for several years in a row. Brighton is 4-1 in region, with the only loss coming at Skyline. Senior captain Lauren Hawes noted, “The Skyline game is the game we look forward to most every year. We have worked really hard this year to compete at a higher level and the Skyline game is a perfect opportunity to showcase great volleyball.”

Unfortunately, the game with Skyline that would likely determine the region championship started out slow with Brighton showing no hope of making the first two sets competitive 25-16 and 25-10. BHS Vice Principal Justin Pitcher said, “It is not that our team is playing poorly, it just that Skyline is so good.” Suddenly, the equivalent of a football goal line stand occurred on the Brighton court. Brighton peeked out a 26-24 third set and did it again in the fourth set. Then, amidst a frenetic atmosphere, the equivalent of a baseball ninth inning rally occurred. Brighton forced a fifth and decisive set which went to two overtime serves. Brighton emerged victorious with a 17-15 final set comeback. 

In addition to freshman, sophomore, JV and varsity girls volleyball teams, Brighton also competes in the newly UHSAA sanctioned sport boys volleyball. This spring sport, combined with the girls volleyball strength, makes Brighton a volleyball powerhouse on all fronts. λ