BUCYRUS — Bucyrus High School hosted it’s Volley for the Cure match against Upper Sandusky Tuesday night.
Before the match, the school held a survivor walk, honoring those ladies who have survived cancer.
Among the ladies who walked was Bucyrus head volleyball coach Amber Christy, who was diagnosed in 2004 and has been in remission for nearly 18 years.
So, as one might expect, the night was very special for the Bucyrus coach.
“I told the girls before the game that this more than a game,” Christy said. “Even after school, when they were decorating, I got a little bit emotional.
“This means a lot to me; I always make sure that I try to hug all of the survivors,” she added. “People just don’t understand what we go through, even when it’s 17 years out. When you battle it and you see and hear other people that are involved, it’s a good night.”
The gymnasium was decorated all in pink and the school raised more than $400 for cancer research.
“Bucyrus had a wonderful volley for the cure tonight,” Christy added. “The parents and the effort and everyone that was involved. Tanya Kimmel just nailed it.”
It was a good night all the way around for the Redmen. Junior Emma Tyrrell finished with 10 kills and two blocks in the Redmen’s 26-24, 25-23, 25-22 win.
The win was the first for the Redmen in Northern 10 Athletic Conference play since Oct. 12, 2017, when the Redmen bested Ridgedale.
“It was sweet,” Christy said of the win. “I’m happy for the girls. People might think, hey, it’s a conference win, but it’s huge for our program to finish the season, going into tournaments. And also, for the girls to believe when we go into next year, to know we can win.”
Upper Sandusky coach Donielle Crall, who said her team had been playing well coming into the match, felt her team took a step back.
“I think we’re two pretty even teams, so we definitely did not play our best at all tonight, but Bucyrus has been playing well and they put it away,” Crall said.
“We kinda thought it was going to be easy,” she added. “We did go on some runs and then one mistake and we just let it affect us for the next five or six plays instead of letting it go and moving on.”
Upper shot out to an 11-6 lead in the first set on an Alyse Swartz serve but the Redmen came back, getting two Macey Williams kills and two Tyrrell kills to take a 17-15 lead.
Four straight Swartz points gave Upper a 23-18 lead, but the Redmen came back again. Two Kelcie Clayton kills cut the lead to 23-21. After the Rams scored a point, the Redmen scored the final five points of the set to get the win. Williams had a kill in the run and Madalyn Kimmel added two more kills.
Upper jumped out quickly in the second set as well, taking an 11-8 lead on a Bailey Hinesman point.
The Redmen came back again, getting a Kimmel kill to take a 16-15 lead.
Four straight Kimmel points increased the lead to 20-16 and the Redmen weren’t challenged the rest of the set.
Upper held an 18-15 lead late in the third set on a Leah Kinley kill but four straight Lillian Neumann points, along with a Williams kill, put the Redmen back on top, 19-18.
Upper led 21-19 on a Sophie Nichols block, but the Redmen scored six of the final seven points of the game to win the match.
“We played really well against Mohawk the other night and we played really well in our win (Monday) night (over Marion Harding) but tonight we just came in and we didn’t play our best at all,” Crall said.
“We just didn’t seem to be able to put our foot down,” Christy said. “It seemed like a little of a slow-paced game. I’m sure it wasn’t as fast as Donielle (Crall) would have liked it to be, either.
“It ended just like that, but when the points were scored at the end of the game, it was 25 points our side,” she added. “They beat us in three the first time we played these guys, so I was just very, very happy to pick this one up.”