A rally late in the opening set of the Region 6-AAA volleyball championship built tension with every touch. Both the Brentwood and Summit High School teams produced incredible plays for what seemed like minutes as the Lady Bruins gym hinged on each hit and leaned into every diving dig. The Lady Spartans eventually earned the point and took a 20-19 lead in their first region championship appearance when Jenna Holforty flipped a ball over the block and into the back left corner of the court. Summit fans – and even some Brentwood fans – erupted at the end of the marathon rally. Lady Bruins senior Shaye Eggleston didn’t show much reaction at all and instead huddled her team for the next point. “We talked about how that is a rally that creates a ton of momentum, so we were just like we need to come out and let’s not let them score another one. It ends here,” Eggleston said. “I think we just banded together and did exactly what Barb (Coach Barbara Campbell) would have wanted us to do … we took a deep breath and stopped them right there.” “That’s a championship mentality right there,” Brentwood assistant coach Angie Noble said. “And that’s what being a leader looks like.” Brentwood scored the next six points after that long rally, including two kills from Eggleston who also teamed up for a block next to Reese Bailey, and the Lady Bruins never let up the rest of the way to clinch the program’s seventh consecutive region title with a 25-20, 25-12, 25-18 victory. “As Barb always says, she wants to win more than she wants to breathe,” the senior Bailey said. “That last big rally like that just flipped a switch on us. It was like, ‘OK, we have to finish this now.’” Brentwood has endured 17 days without coach Campbell on the sidelines. The veteran leader, who is in her 33rd season leading the Lady Bruins and has guided Brentwood to seven straight state championships, suffered an undisclosed health scare at the end of last month and is still recovering. Noble, who is in her eighth season as a Lady Bruins assistant, and Cathy Cram, who is in her sixth, have been co-coaching the team. A crown has remained in Campbell's seat next to the pair in the last six matches. “The message is the same,” Noble said. “It just sounds a little different and probably feels a little different. (Coach Campbell) has raised us all, though. She has instilled in us what should be done in certain situations and sometimes the girls just need that reminding and that’s why we are here.” “It’s been challenging,” Cram added, “but these girls have been so strong and resilient and they are playing for coach Campbell. It’s just really amazing to see.” Eggleston closed with 16 kills and 15 digs in the region championship. She collected 13 kills and eight digs in a 25-11, 25-12, 25-19 sweep of Hillsboro in the early semifinal Tuesday. Summit made its region debut with a 25-18, 25-18, 25-22 win over Dickson County in their semifinal. “Honestly, this feels amazing just to be here,” said Summit senior Destiny Cherry, who had 13 kills and two blocks against the Lady Bruins. “I’m just glad to be here and still be playing … I had chills the whole time.” Cherry’s block late in the second set against the Lady Cougars triggered a 6-1 run to end the game as Cherry, Rebekah Frey, Emily Jordan and Holforty all tallied kills. Similarly, the Lady Spartans broke an 18-18 tie in the third set with a Frey hit down the left side to ignite a final push to end the match. “We have a tendency to sometimes let up our guard, but I thought we tried to be consistent and it showed tonight,” Summit coach Warne Riker said. “We really stayed with it to the end, with the exception of that hiccup in the second set (against Brentwood), but we just need to be resilient and keep fighting through if we get down.” Riker, who has coached Summit since the school opened in 2011, said his team has been eyeing a deep postseason run all year. "This group has been making some big changes for us and making new things happen for this school hopefully setting the precedent for the times to come," he said. "It was really fun to see them scrap out there." A Holforty kill off the Brentwood block pulled Summit within 21-18 in the third set of the championship, but Brentwood’s sophomore setter Dylan Sulcer flipped a ball to Bailey for a sweeping kill from the middle. A Summit hitting error followed and sisters Mary and Zoe Oldham closed the match with big hits from the pins. Hollye Tate added six kills in the title match, while Bailey closed with four more and three blocks. Sulcer had 27 assists with 11 digs and Haley Sanders also reached double-figure digs with 10. Sanders and Summit libero McKenna Davis both led the defense during that wild rally early. The two defensive specialists robbed multiple hits. "That was electric," Cherry said of the long rally. "You just knew that the person next to you was going to go after everything just like (Brentwood) did, so you just wanted to go after everything, too. It was just a great atmosphere to be a part of."  Against Hillsboro, Mary Oldham collected 10 kills on .562 hitting to go with four aces. Bailey added six kills, while Sanders and Meredith Moody tallied nine digs. The Lady Bruins served nine aces and hit .361 in the win. Brentwood will host Lebanon Thursday in a Class AAA sectional match. Summit will travel to Station Camp. The winners will advance to next week’s state tournament, which will be hosted by Siegel High School in Murfreesboro. Station Camp, the District 10-AAA champs, slipped past Lebanon in five sets Tuesday night for the Region 5-AAA title.