ARCANUM – The Arcanum Lady Trojans and the neighboring Franklin Monroe joined forces Saturday to raise funds for support of breast cancer awareness.
“We always talk about it goes beyond the court,” said Arcanum coach Jacie Holman. “When I think about the volleyball program at Arcanum, I want to talk about what great girls they are on and off the court. This is a good representation of what great girls we have that their focus is on people in the community who are going through a way tougher time than we are when we go three sets and make it a close game against FM.”
“We have great kids on both sides today,” Franklin Monroe coach Angie Filbrun stated. “What an excellent game but what a testament to our community of the things that we can do and when they see that these are things that matter, wins and losses don’t matter. These things matter when we make a difference in our community.”
Arcanum entered the day as the 2024 WOAC Champions with a perfect 11-0 conference mark, while the Lady Jets took the court with a respectable 7-4 conference record with the final match of the regular season for both teams put together in support of Broncos for Boobies raising awareness and funds for breast cancer.
The WOAC Champions started slowly in each of the three sets, but the Lady Trojans held on for a 3-0 win on the day.
Franklin Monroe jumped out to an 8-4 first-set lead, bringing a timeout from the Arcanum bench. The Lady Trojans played catchup the entire opening set before getting even at 20-20, 21-21, 23-23 before earning the final two points to eke out a 25-23 win.
“We knew this was going to get us a little bit out of sync because we were focusing not on the game but we took focus on Broncos for Boobies, we were also focusing on our shirts,” Holman said. “We had people that we were honoring that we knew had survived or had made the sacrifice of losing their life with cancer. When you start to think about some of those sentimental times, it is a little tougher to come out and just want to smack the crap out of the volleyball, but still, I am so excited and so proud of the two communities for raising twelve hundred dollars for Broncos for Bubbies is amazing.”
The Lady Jets opened set No. 2 with a 4-1 advantage, with Arcanum battling back to even the score at 4-4, only to have FM use a 3-0 run to lead 7-4. The Lady Trojans used a 3-0 run of their own to tie the set at 7-7, with the teams trading points for a 10-10 score. Franklin Monroe used a 4-0 unanswered points to lead 14-10.
Arcanum stepped up play, knotting the score at 15-15 and 16-16 before Arcanum wrestled the lead away at 17-16 and took the win, going away by a 25-18 score.
The Lady Jets opened the third set with a 2-0 lead before the teams battled to scores of 3-3, 4-4, 6-6, 7-7, 8-8, 9-9, 10-10, 11-11 before the Arcanum girls closed out the day on a 14-3 run to win 25-14 and earn the 3-0 win.
With the 2024 regular season over, everyone is better for the effort the Lady Trojans and Lady Jets put together to raise $1,200 for cancer awareness.
“It’s good to come together as a community while we’re still playing the game, and there’s still a winner and a loser,” said Coach Filbrun following the match. “We’re here for a good cause, and it’s fun to see that. Coaching is way more than the game of volleyball, and I hope that I can leave that legacy with my kids.”
