Pink Out game takes on special meaning for coach, players

If you happened to catch the Bobcat Volleyball team at home last Friday you probably noticed a sea of pink as they played Newcastle in their annual "Pink Out" matches for Breast Cancer Awareness.

Coach Shannon Hill said the team came out "not quite ready to play" and dropped the first set, using a new rotation.

They came out in sets two and three, though, and played great, winning both to take the game into a fourth set.

"I am not quite sure what happened to my girls during the fourth game," Hill said. "We couldn't seem to get on runs or get in our rhythm. We got too comfortable winning games two and three, I think."

The Lady Cats ended up dropping game four, forcing a fifth match that they won very handily.

"I was proud of my girls for staying focused in game five and not letting that one slip away," Hill added. "Our JV made quick work of their match, beating them in two, very well. Our freshmen unfortunately lost in two, but have shown much improvement for the first time we played the tough Newcastle freshman team."

Scores for the day were 13-25, 25-20, 25-17, 18-25 and 15-3.

Ashley McPhie had a great day on the floor with 17 kills, three aces and two blocks. Sesi Jensen added 11 kills and six aces to her stats for the day as well.

Kaylee DeVries dropped five kills and four blocks, Brianna Devries had 15 digs and Dani Jo Pebbles rounded out the day with 39 assists and two aces.

This year's "Pink Out" games had a special meaning for Hill and the Lady Cats as Hill's mother was recently diagnosed with cancer.

The seniors on the team sold t-shirts and cookies donated by Cortney O'Connor, stickers donated by Jena DeVries and raffle tickets for a guitar, donated by Eric Kay. All of the proceeds were given to Hill's mother.

"It was so amazingly thoughtful and heartfelt and I wanted to thank everyone for coming out and not only supporting our volleyball program and my family," Hill said, "but a great cause in breast cancer awareness."