NEW HOPE — The Trojan and Cavalier volleyball teams met up once again to close out the regular season on Tuesday, but this time there was more at stake than their rivalry. The sides held the 8th annual Dig Pink game to help raise awareness and funds for breast cancer screening and research.
The game first started after players proposed the idea of wearing pink for October games, and Caledonia head coach Samantha Brooks worked with then-New Hope head coach Allison Woolbright to organize the event.
“It affects so many of us, it’s a good cause and so many girls have friends and family who have been affected,” Brooks said. “I’m friends with Allison, we’ve always had a good relationship, so I asked if she’d be interested in doing it each year. Although it’s a county rival for us in sports, just for our girls to come together, who are friends and play club together, it’s been fun for all of us and they take a lot of pride in raising money for something that’s important.”
Trojans head coach Laura Lee Holman is in her first season back at New Hope, and even knowing about the event she was still taken aback at how much the community was into the game.
“I didn’t know what I was showing up for and was just blown away,” she said. “The parents and community are showing up for something a lot of people are affected by. Anything we can do as a community to help promote awareness and research is good. I’m glad to be a part of it.”
The game itself was a showcase of the two accomplished programs ahead of their respective playoff runs starting over the next week. Caledonia (15-18) took a 2-0 lead, winning 25-23 and 25-18 in the first two sets. It took some serious fightback from the Trojans (19-18), but they turned the game around and won 3-2, with each of the final three sets decided by three or fewer points.
“I found out a lot about my team,” Holman said of the game. “We lost our first two sets and we weren’t playing bad, Caledonia was just playing very well. There were times this season we haven’t responded, so (I) was glad to see them do it in that environment under pressure. It’s what you want to see at this time of the year.”
Brooks had a similarly positive attitude about the game despite losing, noting the intensity and the high level of play it demanded of both teams. It’s the kind of experience that is hard to replicate for a team that has ambitions in the postseason.
“I think playing in that atmosphere will be to our advantage going into the playoffs,” Brooks said. The crowds get bigger and the stakes are higher, there’s more pressure and playing in that atmosphere against a good team is good practice for the playoffs. When we played them on our court they swept us in three, so in that respect, progress was made and it’s beneficial for us to have that experience going into the playoffs.”
The Cavaliers have their playoff matchup set, hosting Senatobia at noon on Saturday, while New Hope has yet to find out their opponent, but both teams embraced the late-season challenge in preparation for whatever comes next.
“Mentally how they responded it’s what you want as a coach,” Holman said of the game. “In a playoff run it’s not always about the best team, it’s about the tougher team, and those teams advance in the playoffs.”
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