On Tuesday night Boiling Springs held their annual Pink Night and the Bulldogs came away with a 3-1 victory over Spartanburg but for one Bulldog the night was a little extra meaningful.
The theme for the Bulldogs this season was 'Stronger Together' and this year the Bulldogs honored Jennifer Gregory, the mother of Bulldogs senior Madison Gregory, who lost her battle with cancer in March of this year. "My mom was diagnosed with a form of cancer called Leiomyosarcoma in February and she passed away in March," said Gregory. "Tonight was very special because everyone came together and supported me through it. With this being my final Pink Night as a player and her not being here it just meant a little more because everyone was playing for her." The shirts that the Bulldogs were selling this year to raise money for cancer research contained their theme along with two hands coming together to make a heart, which were the hands of Madison and her sister Elizabeth. "Madison lost her mom to cancer in the spring and tonight was special because we had our shirts designed to have her hand and her sisters make a heart design which inspired our theme Stronger Together," said Boiling Springs head coach Allison Elliot. "We're playing tonight for the girls that have faced this dreaded disease and the ones that will face it in the future. It's just something positive that we can do to turn a bad situation into something encouraging. So, tonight we're playing for Madison to encourage her and her family." The Pink Night for the Boiling Springs volleyball team is in its eleventh year and Elliot says that the growth in cancer research that she has seen in those eleven years has been remarkable. "In the eleven years that we have been doing this I have seen how advanced treatment and research has developed," said Elliot. "Things that you couldn't do eleven or twelve years ago are now available to help people in early detection. Although Madison's mom didn't have breast cancer it was still very impactful on our team and we wanted to recognize her tonight." Coach Elliot says that the Pink Night is something that the players look forward to every year and that the entire community just continues to support every year. "I ask the girls every year if they want to do the Pink Night and the answer is always absolutely yes," said Elliot. "I never started that first Pink Night eleven years ago with this intention but it's a great event as we get the whole school involved along with all kinds of businesses in the community that continue to make donations to help us raise funds with door prizes. We also have lots of players and parents who continue to return every year to be a part of the event." In the actual game the Bulldogs were able to come away with a 3-1 victory over Spartanburg. The Bulldogs were down 17-7 in the first set but rallied to get back within five before falling 25-17 but used the momentum from that rally to take control of the match. In the second set Boiling Springs grabbed a 25-16 win behind a service run by junior Logan Kenny that took the Bulldogs from a four point lead to an eight point lead at 21-13. The third set was all Bulldogs and junior Savannah Page ended the set with a kill off a Vikings defender's arm to grab the 25-11 win. The fourth set saw the Bulldogs jump out to a 10-4 lead when the Vikings called a timeout. After the timeout the Vikings got the score to 10-7 when Madison Gregory scored a point to stop the Spartanburg run and shift the momentum back to the Bulldogs on their to a way 25-16 win in the set and the overall victory in the match. "We started a little rough in the first set and I think that had a lot to do with all the festivities around tonight," said Elliot. "I think once we settled down we never looked back. After that first set we really focused on what we were doing well and that momentum carried us throughout the rest of the match." Gregory led the Bulldogs in assists on Tuesday night with nineteen while Alex Fyfe led the team in digs with twenty-four. Savannah Page led the team with fifteen kills while Logan Kenny in blocks with four. Both Kenny and Fyfe led the Bulldogs in ace serves with four aces each. Comments are closed.
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