HOLMES TOWNSHIP — The volleyball match Thursday night was somewhat anti-climactic. More importantly, Bucyrus and Wynford battled each other in the 2024 Volley for the Cure match.
The match was an effort to raise money for the Susan G. Komen Foundation, and several fund-raisers were held, including a 50-50 drawing, a bake sale, and a basket raffle.
For the record, Wynford won the match, 25-23, 25-7, and 25-16. The Lady Royals improved to 7-12 overall and 3-9 in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference, while the Lady Red fell to 2-17 overall and 1-11 in the conference.
But the night was far more meaningful for a lot of people attending, including Bucyrus coach Amber Christy and Wynford coach Tiniel Nickler.
Christy is a breast cancer survivor for the past 19 years. Nickler, on the other hand, walked across the court with one of her relatives.
Christy has coached during many Volley for the Cure games, but this one is as meaningful for her as any of the other ones.
“My girls know it,” Christy said of her journey. “I get emotional and things like this. I see people that are just starting out the journey and I know that certain things like this are scary. I know it, I felt it. It was 19 years ago, but I know it; I felt it.
“I’m really glad the girls are starting to understand this, doing events like this,” Christy said. “The girls are starting to realize, ‘wow, look at all the people,’ and it could happen to them.”
She also said that the girls still don’t really understand what a game like this means, yet.
“I told the girls, these Volley for the Cure games mean a lot to people who are involved in them,” Christy added. “The kids don’t really see it as much. I mean, they know it from knowing people and everything, but what this means to the women here is important.
“I think, by the looks of the girls, they get into doing everything,” Christy added. “I think it’s starting to spread. I told the girls, on nights like this, I think the game is kinda secondary.”
Nickler felt that a game like this is important in the fight for cancer.
“It’s huge,” Nickler said. “You know, until you watched somebody or witnessed someone going through a journey, as in the fight against cancer, you don’t really understand it. I walked one of my family members. And watching her go through the journey she did, to literally fight for her life, is something that I will treasure forever.”
The Wynford coach said that, because of cancer, people should spend every day cherishing their friends and family.
“Nowadays, you take things for granted. Wake up, feel blessed that ‘Hey, I had a good night’s sleep,’ and feel blessed that, ‘hey I can walk on the ground. “Moving forward, I encourage people; don’t take the little things for granted,” Nickler added. “Say I love you every day to your friends and family and tell each and every one how much they mean to you.”
The two teams battled through the first game as Bucyrus took a 13-7 lead on a Haylee Stratton ace. The Lady Red also led 21-17 on a Stratton kill and seemed poised to take the first game.
But then, Wynford’s Brooke Frombaugh took over. Frombaugh, one of the league’s best hitters, got a block and two kills before the Lady Royals scored three straight points on Makayla Morgan serves to take the lead at 23-21. Frombaugh got a kill moments later as Wynford took the first game, 25-23.
“I thought we played very good in the first game, very good,” Christy said. “We got into some runs. We have a short front row on one turn, and, when someone like Frombaugh is in the front row, she’s really tough. She’s a great player and she’s only a sophomore; she’s going to get better.”
The second game was all Wynford. The Lady Royals scored 13 of the game’ first 14 points. Wynford got four kills from Frombaugh and a block from Gretchen Slade in the run.
After Bucyrus scored on a Tori Stang point, Wynford scored 12 of the final 18 points to get the win.
Wynford led 11-8 midway through the third game, but the Lady Red got a kill from freshman Peyton Fackler and a Stratton point to cut the lead to one.
From there, the Lady Royals took back control, getting two kills from sophomore Cali Holbrook and a point from freshman Kate McGuire. to take a 16-10 lead.
Bucyrus did cut the lead to 19-14 on two Stang kills, but Frombaugh got three kills, Holbrook added a kill and Frombaugh added another kill to end the match.
“We’re a young team; we lost five seniors last year so, from the get-go, I tried to get the girls ready,” Nickler said. “I tried to hold the momentum and get them excited, because we need to go right from point one. Here lately, I feel like we’ve been waiting on showing up a little bit. But, man, did my girls show up today.”