AMERICAN FORK — One very good team will most likely be left home when the 5A volleyball tournament begins the first week of November.

That team could be American Fork, which currently stands at fifth place in Region 4 and out of the playoff picture should the postseason begin today. Because of some up-and-down play in a very tough region and a couple of tight losses to some of the state's best, the Cavemen are now 2-6 in Region 4 action and seemingly out of playoff contention.

Yet, those same Cavemen, who have little chance to head to Utah Valley University, took on the state's second-ranked team and 5A No. 2 in Brighton and gave the Bengals everything they could possibly handle. The two teams went the distance Thursday, with Brighton eventually coming up with the 25-12, 14-25, 21-25, 25-16, 15-10 victory.

When the two teams came out in the first game, it appeared the Cavemen had given up on their season after a disappointing loss to Jordan on Tuesday night. The Bengals ran out to a huge lead and never looked back, making American Fork look lost and shaky.

But the second game brought out the split personality in both teams as it was an utter opposite from Game 1. American Fork hard hitter Makenzie Moea'i came to life with five kills after sloshing through the first game without a single kill. The other Cavemen hammer, Jessica Jardine, added three kills in the game, and the Bengals just didn't have anything going.

Moea'i finished with 15 kills in the match, and Jardine added a match-high 17 kills as the two combined for 32.

"I was worried about this match," said Brighton coach Kathy Mendenhall, who noted that her team has had a lackluster week what with being a little sick and a little flat. "This was a good scare for us. They played a great match tonight. They have two outstanding hitters, and we knew when we came in that we had to respect those two."

And those two kept things swinging for American Fork in Game 3 as they combined for 12 kills in that game alone, leading the Cavemen to a victory in the match's most well played game by both teams.

But then the Brighton team came together after the coach got mad, and players really started serving strongly and playing a little more aggressively overall.