Tigers Digging For The Cause
Members of the Warsaw volleyball program sport pink shirts for their Dig Pink match coming up on Thursday.
But, the importance of the conference finale versus Concord will take a back seat to the true purpose of the evening.
The Tigers will host their annual Dig Pink event in order to raise awareness about breast cancer and to raise funds for the Kosciusko Cancer Care Fund. This will be the fourth straight year the Warsaw program has done the event.
Warsaw coach Mike Howard knows where the main priority lies Thursday night even though his highly-successful team is looking to complete an undefeated Northern Lakes Conference season and earn the league championship.
“We just want to do whatever we can to help,” said Howard. “Everyone has been touched in some way by breast cancer. There’s a lot of it in Kosciusko County and we want to do our part to address it through awareness and trying to raise some money to fight it.
“Volleyball will definitely take a back seat to the cause on Thursday night. We just want people to come out and support those who have been affected by it and support our girls.”
Warsaw will don pink jerseys for the match and Concord is also on board as they will wear pink too. Fans are encouraged to wear pink to the match and there will be raffles and baked items for sale to raise money for the Kosciusko Cancer Care Fund.
Howard, whose team is 20-4 overall, is looking to win the program’s first NLC title in over a decade. The Tigers beat perennial state power Elkhart Memorial 3-2 in August to snap the Chargers’ 76-match winning streak in conference play dating all the way back to 2001. Warsaw has went 6-1 in league play each of Howard’s first four years at the helm to finish as NLC runner-up to Memorial.
The Thursday match with Concord will be emotional for many, especially Warsaw star senior Jamie Lacheta. The standout outside hitter’s mother Cheryl was diagnosed with breast cancer two years ago.
“This cause has a lot of special meaning for our team,” Howard said. “It will be an emotional night. It will be a family atmosphere and about what is really important to all of us.”
The NLC match at WCHS Thursday begins with the junior varsity match at 5:30 p.m. with the varsity contest to follow.
Warsaw volleyball players celebrate a point during a huge 3-0 NLC win over NorthWood at home Sept. 27. The Tigers host their Dig Pink match this Thursday in the league finale versus Concord.
