On October 7, Linganore High School’s (LHS) girls’ volleyball team celebrated “Dig Pink” and Breast Cancer Awareness Month at their home varsity game against Urbana High School (UHS).

The LHS JV starting team consists of two captains: outside hitter Amy Latimer and setter Emry Mayhew.  The JV starters are Mayhew, Latimer, libero Scarlet Killar, middle blocker and hitter Jenna Ablondi, right-side hitter Samantha Dembeck and outside hitter Carrisa Dolney.  The team is coached by Kaitlyn Harmon. 

During their match, the team played very well together and managed to win their first two sets back to back. Since the winner is determined by the winner of two out of three sets, this lead to a default win. The JV team faced tough competition from UHS, but ultimately, their teamwork and organization on the court led to their win. 

JV’s co-captain Mayhew commented on  how the game went overall and how the team eventually pulled through in the end. 

“[I thought we played] pretty good,” said Mayhew. “When we got to the second set, we really got in our heads, and it was a little messy, but we made it.” 

During their game, JV swiftly won their first set. 25-15. While the second set was more competitive, they still won 25-21. It is clear from the viewers’ perspective that Harmon runs the JV team very well, and her players put up a fight in every game. Their season record is now 8-1; their only loss came in a game against Tuscarora High School.  

The varsity team also played in the Dig Pink Game. The team is coached by LHS P.E. teacher Andrea Poffinberger, also known as Coach Poffinberger. 

Before the varsity match to commemorate breast cancer patients, pink carnations were given to any woman who was either a breast cancer patient or a survivor. A lone member of the audience stood to receive her carnation.

Dig Pink is an organization founded by Rick Dunetz. This organization is dedicated to aiding women with metastatic breast cancer and ensuring they exceed their life expectancy. The Dig Pink Side-Out Foundation has been in existence for over 19 years.

In the month of October, volleyball teams around the world honor Breast Cancer Awareness Month through Dig Pink. Part of the foundation’s name, the term “Side Out”, refers to repossessing a ball that almost lands out of bounds. This is similar to how breast cancer survivors are given a second chance at life.

Guest Speaker Wendi Duffy was courageous enough to share her story as a triple negative breast cancer patient and expressed her gratitude to John Hopkins University and the life-saving medical attention she received there. Triple negative breast cancer is when the cancer cells lack estrogen, and the cells typically grow faster.

After Duffy spoke, the varsity match began. Coach Poffinberger’s varsity team has 3 captains, outside hitter Skylar Shields, libero Sadie Gladhill, and outside hitter Katie Bollhorst. The starters are Shields, Gladhill, Bollhorst, right side hitter Camryn Rawlett, middle blocker and hitter Christina Contardi, middle blocker and hitter Erika Latimer, and setter Sarah Burke. 

Linganore varsity volleyball had a more difficult night, facing stiff competition from the UHS varsity volleyball team, who came into the game with an 8-0 record, meaning one team was going home with their first loss. They were an equal opponent to LHS and its own 8-0 record; however, only one team would leave the night still undefeated. 

LHS varsity lost a close first set 23-25  due to Urbana’s incredible hitters. During the second set, UHS put up a real fight and seemed to only  come back tougher after every time-out during the match. LHS lost their second set 22-25. 

Since varsity volleyball plays the best out of five in a match, tensions were high after the second set. If UHS won the third set, it would be a default win for their team.

Throughout the varsity girls’ undefeated season, they were a real competition for many schools and swept teams in multiple matches. Unfortunately, they lost their third and final set 17-25, which UHS managed to lead  the entire time. The Hawks beat the Lancers 3-0 at home on Monday to retain their undefeated record.

Varsity setter Julia Tomaski gave insight on how she felt the match went. Tomaski thought there were things that the team did well and things that they could improve upon. In particular, she understood that the team struggled to persevere and finish strong when UHS had the upper hand in a set. 

“We got to a certain point and we were like, ‘we can win this,’” Tomaski said. [I think we] gave up once they started to come back.”

Tomaski added that she felt her team’s hits and blocks were good and that they all put up a good fight regardless of the loss.