New Gaylord coach Brittany Cornish wants people excited about volleyball again

GAYLORD — It is an exciting time around the state of Michigan as we get ready to welcome high school sports back into our lives.

As the calendar turns to August, teams and coaches start to plan out their last few steps; tryouts, the last practices and final game plan preparations are all underway as the fall season's opening games wait right around the corner.

Gaylord teams are no exception, with the football program wrapping the last of their 7-on-7 events and the soccer program hosting Harbor Springs for a scrimmage at the end of July.

For one Gaylord coach, this fall marks the start of a brand-new era as she starts her first season as the leader of a high school program for the first time.

Brittany Cornish, the Blue Devils’ former junior varsity volleyball coach, has taken over as the head coach for the varsity team with high expectations for herself and the program.

“I feel like the girls really are a family. I’m just happy to be a part of that,” Cornish said.

Cornish, a teacher at Gaylord’s North Ohio Elementary, said volleyball has been part of her life as far back as she can remember, playing year-round for most of her youth.

Playing club, travel and high school volleyball for Capac High School downstate, Cornish has playing experience at multiple positions, moving from libero to hitter to setter throughout her career.

Her family then moved to Oklahoma, where Cornish finished her volleyball career before studying Elementary Education at the University of Oklahoma. It was in Oklahoma where Cornish got into coaching for the first time, taking over as coach for her high school's junior varsity team while helping with the middle school program as well.

Cornish credits some of her former coaches for pushing her towards coaching, saying she hopes to have the same impact on her players that those coaches had on her.

“I had some coaches change my life,” said Cornish. “I just feel it’s important to share my love and knowledge of the game with my girls.”

Gaylord was introduced to Cornish in 2021 when she took over the Blue Devils JV program. That team flourished, winning 30 games, and Cornish made her stamp on the program immediately.

Cornish believes her familiarity with the program, in general, is a great foundation to start with as she builds the volleyball program.

“Kind of like when you’re a teacher and you loop with your class, you have the same coach, you know a lot of my expectations,” Cornish said. “I’ve worked with the varsity girls and the freshman, so I know a lot of them and they’ve been coming out this summer.”

While games aren’t scheduled until later this month, the team got their first taste of action under their new head coach last month, traveling to Ferris State University in Big Rapids for a two-day camp from July 19 to July 20.

There, the team got to play some high-intensity games against other varsity teams, giving them something to build on as the season gets closer.

In the first matchup with Owosso, the Blue Devils erased a 10-1 deficit before coming back to win 30-28. Competitive matchups like that are what made the trip so worthwhile in Cornish’s eyes.

“I think it was a great opportunity for these girls to see they can compete again,” Cornish said.

Overall, Cornish wants to help people get excited about volleyball again. The program recently held a three-day little league camp for third through ninth graders, hoping to get more people interested in volleyball well before high school rolls around.

For this season, Cornish is excited about the potential in her first group. The Blue Devils return five seniors, giving their coach a player at each position she can trust.

That, and the success the JV team had a season ago, is giving the team high hopes for Cornish's first season at the helm of the program.

“They’ve all put in the work, and with our success last year on JV, hopefully we can blend it all together and it’ll be great,” Cornish said.

Tryouts for all three levels start Tuesday, August 9 at the GHS gym. The volleyball season officially begins Wednesday, August 17 with a home matchup against Ogemaw Heights at 6:30 p.m.

This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: New Gaylord coach wants people excited about volleyball again