By Kaitlyn Fletcher

The month of October was Breast Cancer Awareness Month and our volleyball teams, school, and community not only showed a tremendous amount of support, but raised awareness about breast cancer as well. October 17 marked another annual Dig Pink volleyball night filled with fun raffles, giveaways, exciting games, and tons of support.

The freshman, JV, and varsity teams were each a part of this event, where the money from donations, game tickets, raffles, and the “Tough Enough To Wear Pink” t-shirts went to the Side-Out foundation. The Side-Out foundation, which was established in 2004, teams up with volleyball teams nationwide to raise money for cancer research. Debbie Senchak, who is the wife of varsity head coach John Senchak said, “The Side-Out foundation is a part of Virginia, so it [the proceeds] will stay local. We’ve been donating to them [the Side-Out foundation] for quite a few years, and this is our second year running this event here.”

Assistant Athletic Director, Paul Grinups, had this to say about Dig Pink night,“I think it is a great thing to have these teams support a great cause. Breast cancer affects a lot of people that we know and for high school kids to buy into something larger than themselves and to find a cause that they can support is pretty important and at Tuscarora it’s really important too.” Coach Smith, head coach of the varsity boys basketball team said, “I think it’s great to raise awareness at this level because you’re reaching younger people that may not be aware of breast cancer. Not to mention that all the money that is raised is for cancer research which is a good thing, and a much needed thing.”
Around 7:00 the bleachers started to fill up with students, teachers, staff, and parents who wore pink t-shirts and pink jerseys to support the varsity team. The Huskies took the court wearing their bright pink jerseys ready for a victory over the Spartans and kicked off their first set, with three more to follow throughout the course of the night.

Senior Team Captain Gabriela Santos said “This was an important game because in order to advance in conference we kind of had to win it. So we knew that we had to pull through and work together to win because there was no way that we could lose to Broad Run. Especially on Dig Pink night.”

Varsity fought hard and with tons of cheers and support from the crowd, especially Tusky Terror, the ladies beat Broad Run 3 sets to 1, improving their record to 13-5. Head coach John Senchak, who was very pleased with the amount of support said, “Of course I’m happy! They [the fans] were loud and that kind of support is good for our players, it gives them the emotional boost they need.” Senior and Tusky Terror leader Brandon Meyer said, “It was really important to be there. There have been a few games that I’ve had to miss because of work so I made sure to request off of work this time so I could be at the game and get everybody excited.”

Not only was this a big night for the volleyball teams, this was also a big night to the thousands of people, both men and women, who have been affected by breast cancer. To everyone who have had or have breast cancer, Coach Senchak has this to say, “Keep fighting! It’s the same thing that I say to my players. I love these girls and I’m so proud of everything that they do and our message is always the same. Things aren’t going to be fair, things aren’t going to be easy, but all you can do is keep fighting.”

Congratulations to our freshman and JV volleyball teams whose seasons have come to an end, and good luck to our varsity team whose season will be extended into the Conference Tournament! For more information and updates about the varsity volleyball team follow @TuscaroraVBall on Twitter.