An exciting pair has taken over the junior varsity volleyball team at Brighton High School, but it’s more of a welcome home than the start of a new journey. 

Kiahna Infante-Escamilla and Keilani Infante might be familiar to fans of the program. They grew up in Brighton. And although they live just outside a major metropolis, they consider themselves “small town people.” That’s why they came back to the Front Range after college, and don’t plan on going anywhere else soon. 

“We do like to do big things in our community, though,” Infante-Escamilla said. “We work with the Boys and Girls club and I work with an elementary school in town. So we try to give back to the community, and we do it through volleyball because we both enjoy it.” 

I sat down with the duo to learn more about their plans for Brighton High School’s JV program and the team’s upcoming season. Here are five things I learned: 

1. If you hadn’t guessed, the two are sisters 

Growing up, Keilani Infante said the two did everything together. So when Kiahna Infante-Escamilla joined the coaching staff back when Infante was a freshman at Brighton, Infante said she knew she wanted to eventually get involved. 

Getting to learn from her sister and help teach others was something she had to be a part of. 

“I’ve always just been used to doing everything with my sister, so we’re like ‘Well, yeah let’s coach together.’” Infante said. “We already do so much, and this is just kind of the cherry on top.” 

2. Both went to Brighton and played on the volleyball team 

Infante-Escamilla has been on the coaching staff at Brighton for six years, and is now the head coach of the JV team. Her sister Infante is joining her this season for the first time as an assistant coach. 

But both are very familiar with the program and facilities. Infante-Escamilla graduated in 2013, and joined the coaching staff when Infante was a freshman during the 2017-18 season. 

Infante then graduated in 2021 and wanted to return to high school volleyball considering her senior season was shut down due to the pandemic. 

“I had gone out of state for school, and then you always just come back home, back to your roots,” Infante said. “It’s good to be able to do that and stand by my sister.”

“We both went there, so it’s pretty awesome to be a part of things like the homecoming parade and support the other sports,” Infante-Escamilla said. “We go to the football games and basketball games and just try to do hometown things.” 

3. Both are passionate about making an impact on and off the court 

Both told me the desire to get into coaching goes beyond the wins and losses on the record at the end of the year. They already spoke about supporting the community in Brighton and attending the other sporting events at the school. 

But it’s all about how they can impact those closest to them on a daily basis — their players.

“I know how much of an impact my coaches made on me, so I’m hoping that we can do the same for our girls now,” Infante said. “I’m excited to be back in high school volleyball.” 

4. They’ll have a very young team in 2023

After losing seven seniors to graduation, development will be the name of the game this season, Infante-Escamilla said. But she’s looking forward to teaching fundamentals and technique again. 

“I think this year is definitely going to be more development-based, so I’m kind of excited to get back to teaching the game of volleyball,” she said. “Because usually — I do JV — so I usually get the girls who already pretty much know the foundation of volleyball. But we have a very young crowd and group of girls I’m excited to teach and reteach to get them to that next level.” 

Infante will get a front row seat to watch her older sister with a young team, and she said she’s looking forward to learning how to communicate better as a coach. 

“Honestly, she just works with kids a lot better than I do,” Infante said. “I think overall that’s what I’ve learned most is to interact with those younger than me, and she does really well with it. I’m excited to build on that.” 

5. Both are excited about the move to the 5A Front Range league

Last season was Brighton’s first season in the 5A Front Range League after years of dominating the 5A East Metro League. The varsity team finished eighth in the conference with an 8-5 record last season after two undefeated conference records the two years prior  in the 5A East Metro league. 

Infante-Escamilla said the move makes for more challenging competition year in and year out. Last season was much tougher, she said. That might mean tempering expectations for a young team, but the coaching duo said that won’t be an excuse going forward. 

“Knowing that I have such a young group of girls in this more competitive league, I think I’m going to focus more on teambuilding and getting those sophomores and freshmen that I know can be team leaders, getting them to know the expectations of the program as a whole,” Infante Escamilla said. “And then teaching them to love the game of volleyball, like actually enjoying being there every day, because it can be exhausting.” 

The Bulldogs’ first game of the season is August 17 against Skyview, though they’ll compete in a scrimmage at Eagle Ridge Academy on August 12. For the full 2023-24 JV schedule, click here.