Waves of cheering erupted from the gymnasium on Oct. 14 as the girls varsity volleyball team faced the Valparaiso Vikings. Besides the game being the determining factor on who got to take home the Duneland Athletic Conference title, Lake Central also hosted its second annual Bump Out Cancer event.
“What [Bump Out Cancer] does is give money to the three cancer organizations in the area: The Leukemia Lymphoma Society, The Cancer Resource Center out of Munster and Northwest Indiana Cancer Kids,” Mrs. Lindsay Kruzan, mother of Julia Kruzan (11) said.
During the freshman and JV games, raffle tickets were sold and firefighters went around collecting donations in boots in order to raise as much money as possible for the three organizations.
“Last year we gave every organization almost $2,000. This year, we are hoping to give them more. Everything from tonight goes to those three organizations,” Mrs. Kruzan said.
The highlight of the night happened between the JV and varsity games; cancer survivors paraded through the volleyball court including one of Lake Central’s own, Faith Huenecke (9). Representing an enormous event and playing a large crowd unfortunately got the best of the girls, with Lake Central succumbing to the Vikings. The final scores were 24-26, 20-25, 25-21, 8-25.
“Playing on a big stage definitely affected our play. The crowd was energizing and in warm ups we were pretty nervous. Once the nerves went away, we played free and aggressive in the beginning of the match.
Toward the end we were intimidated and gave up on each other,” Rachel Gross (11) said.
Though the varsity girls suffered a major loss, the meaning behind the event is what shone through in the end. Raising nearly $5,300 for the three cancer societies, the girls were ecstatic due to their role in the event.
“I was very pleased with the way Bump Out Cancer turned out. It’s a very special night and it’s touching to see all the people that survived cancer. They inspire me so much, as a player and as a person,” Victoria Gardenhire (11) said.
