The crowd was loud and on the edges of their seats. Pink was scattered throughout the crowd. People were bustling around, going in and out of the game. Every year in October, Concord High School hosts a Dig Pink tournament, which is a cancer fundraiser and a volleyball tournament. This year Dig Pink was held on October 12. There were 8 teams there; Concord, Clinton, Homer, Jonesville, Madison, Onsted, Springport, and Union City.
In the first match, the girls lost 11-25 to Clinton, but their spirits rose to beat them as soon as they lost that game. They won the next match 25-9. After that match, the Lady Jackets maintained high spirits and played extremely well for the rest of the pool play. The Lady Jackets landed first in the pool play by beating Madison and Homer. Junior Emma Burbo, outside hitter and left back, talks about how pool play went: “ It went great. We had lots of high energy and managed to pull ourselves back up. We also started to pick apart the other teams’ weaknesses and aiming for it.”
During pool play, fans were encouraged to purchase raffle tickets to support the Dig Pink fundraiser. The junior varsity team took shifts working the fundraiser. There were nine baskets in total, so people had many choices. Rachel Rundle, a freshman on the junior varsity team shared what bucket she thought got the most tickets: “I think the fall basket or the Halloween basket because they were cute.” Money raised would go to the family of a former Concord volleyball player, Corina Hotchkin, who recently passed away from cancer. At the end of pool play, they drew the winners. The fundraiser raised about 700 dollars for the family.
Brianne Sinden, the varsity assistant coach, ran the fundraiser. She explains her favorite part about the event: “I love that it is a fundraiser about cancer. This year it is for a local family who is grieving.” She continues, “So all that money will go to the Hotchkin family, and it makes my heart happy.”
After pool play, they jumped right into bracket play. The girls were pumped up and ready to play. They first played against Springport. The girls beat Springport 25-11 and 25-11.
After Springport, they beat Madison in the semi-finals, 25-16 and 25-12. Unfortunately, the girls lost to Clinton in the final 3; 10-25, 25-20, and 11-15. Even though they lost, they maintained a positive attitude and kept up the hard work.
Varsity Coach Lehman shares who she is playing for: “My dad. He survived pancreatic cancer and colon cancer. Also, my grandmother and all her sisters died of breast cancer.” She continues, “Breast cancer was hardly heard of. But now it is more at the forefront of research and making sure people are getting their breast exams done.”
Good luck to the junior varsity and varsity girls on Tuesday the 15th as they play at Springport at 5:30.
