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Briley Andres has fond memories of attending volleyball games as a child, including her first match, as a fifth grader, watching the Aquinas College Saints. 

“I think about when I was a little kid and I wanted to do so much with volleyball,” Andres said. “I was the annoying child at the volleyball game passing the ball against the wall just to pass the time.” 

In her early days playing volleyball, Andres, a native of Sand Lake, often envisioned herself donning the maroon and gray jersey of Aquinas College. A rollercoaster of a journey ensued and, in early February, Andres fulfilled her childhood dream by verbally committing to Aquinas College’s volleyball program. 

“It’s kind of a full-circle moment for me,” Andres said. “Aquinas is a college I’ve always looked at, it’s close to home and they have a great program. It’s crazy, I still can’t believe it; I was super excited to commit to Aquinas.” 

Andres was a two-year varsity player for the Cedar Springs Red Hawks. She also played club volleyball for five years for HIVE Volleyball — practicing at Montcalm Community College and being coached by MCC head coach Kara Youngs.  

While Andres had a high level of familiarity with MCC and Youngs, she initially planned to end her volleyball career after high school, attend Grand Rapids Community College and focus solely on academics. However, her close friend and high school teammate, Aleyna Moleski, who played for the Centurions from 2023-2025, encouraged her to reach out to Youngs to inquire about a spot on MCC’s volleyball team. 

“I didn’t think I could just join the team, I thought there was more of a process,” Andres recalled. “Kara ended up shooting me a text, we talked about it back and forth and then she offered me a spot. I met my teammates as I was taking team pictures with them. I have no regrets, but it was definitely not planned at all.” 

Andres played defensive specialist for the Centurions, doing the dirty work by securing digs on the back line and keeping the ball in play for her teammates. But Andres felt she didn’t perform up to her standards as a freshman, citing the “shock” of playing college volleyball reverberating for a lot of the first year. 

“I was still surprised by it all and, to be honest, I don’t think I was giving my all to the sport,” Andres said. “Not even in practices with the physical aspect of it, but outside of it, as well. I wasn’t coming in for extra reps, I wasn’t really doing that much in the weight room. When I was a freshman, I didn’t think I would go somewhere else to play after MCC, in all honesty.” 

Things changed in a big way for Andres as a sophomore. A quality offseason led to changes in her game. Her seniority on a young team, which included only five sophomores, was more noticeable. This resulted in her being named a team captain for her final year as a Centurion. At first, Andres noted the difficulties that came along with this responsibility, but her natural charisma started to shine as she stepped into the leadership role that her coach knew she was ready for. 

“Briley demonstrates remarkable consistency in her communication, engaging not only with her teammates but also with our coaching staff throughout practices and matches,” Youngs said. “Her coachability is exceptional — she is always eager to learn, open to feedback and willing to adjust when needed. Briley is constantly hustling, giving maximum effort in every drill, every play and every opportunity to improve. Beyond the gym, she is consistently reliable in volunteer efforts, reflecting her strong commitment to community involvement. She leads by example in every aspect of our program.” 

After improving her stats across the board and feeling more confident in her game, Andres sought to continue her volleyball career after graduating from MCC. Andres considered other schools to continue academically, but Aquinas was always a front runner for volleyball. 

“I tend to do better when I keep myself busy with work, school, sports,” Andres said. “So if I’m striving for something great, I realize that it’d probably be a benefit to continue with my volleyball career.” 

Andres is the first MCC volleyball player to continue their volleyball career at a four-year institution, something that Youngs noted is a “truly significant moment for our program.” 

“Our players invest an exceptional amount of effort, dedication, and commitment into our program, and witnessing Briley advance to the next stage of her volleyball career is both gratifying and well‑deserved,” Youngs said. “As the first player in our program to move on to a four‑year institution, Briley has set a remarkable standard. I am incredibly proud of her determination, her continued growth as a player, and her commitment to achieving her goals.” 

Andres has made the most of her journey at MCC. While playing volleyball and remaining a full-time student, Andres also spent time last year working as a Social Media Workstudy for MCC’s communications department and this year as a Student Ambassador for the admissions department. 

“I’ve had a lot of different roles here at MCC and I think that’s what’s made it so important to me,” Andres said. “I’ve formed really good friendships with people, not only on my team, I’ve grown really close with Kara, I’ve grown close with our athletic staff and my supervisor, Taryn (Muilenburg), is one of my best friends now. 

“I love the atmosphere here, I love the people,” she added. “It’s a smaller campus so you can form relationships with people that are actually meaningful. Between work, school and sports, I’ll leave here with a lot of happy memories. I feel like I’ll be an MCC ambassador for the rest of my life.” 

Andres plans to major in business at Aquinas.