Anyone who has been a spectator at a volleyball game has seen a player that didn’t seem to get the memo and wore the wrong colored jersey. This player is called the libero, and their mismatched jersey is not an accident. The libero is a designated passer. She goes in for people in the front row, typically the middle blockers, once they rotate to the back row. Her special jersey gives her the privilege of rotating in for any player and being on the court for an entire rotation. However, she is not allowed to play the front row and can only serve for one person. For the Broncos, this different colored jersey was worn by five different players through the course of one season. Hailey Lovetinsky, 11, Megan Milroy, Kelsey Kroutch, Kati Hall and Morgan Gose, 12, all were the libero at some point; although they did not run a traditional libero.

“We used it as a way to not use all of our subs,” Milroy said. “We just went in for one person and literally half our team wore [the jersey].”

Although there was never a permanent choice, the jersey moved around to try to find its best fit.

“It was to experiment on who could pass the best and to see who could be the permanent libero,” Lovetinsky said.

The girls agreed the reason for the constant switching was because the team had a lot of girls who could play the back row with the same skill level. They also agreed the ever-changing jersey and rotations made it very challenging to get a groove in practice or games.

“It was much more chaotic at practice and games because it messes with everyone,” Milroy said. “You can’t focus on one main position and on getting better at it everyday at practice.”