High school students combined athletics and altruism when the girls varsity and junior varsity volleyball teams hosted a Dig Pink breast cancer awareness fundraiser on Oct. 5.

The team members sold paper volleyballs to decorate a large poster adorned with pink ribbons and titled Spiking Out Cancer. Their efforts raised more than $1,500, which will benefit the Side-Out Foundation, an organization that unites high school volleyball players and coaches as they work to help further breast cancer awareness, education and patient services.

A royal thanks to coach Douglas VonBargen and the girls volleyball teams: varsity members, seniors Ashley Catoggio, Taylor Catoggio, Lia Desmond, Brett Dooley and Samantha Miceli; juniors Samantha Ayotte, Kelli Booker, Emily Bossert, Kylie Melzer, Ava Napoli and Chloe Simunek and sophomore Evelyn Walker; and junior varsity players, sophomores Emily Brown, Calli Saieva, Selena Ueno and Peggy Yin; and freshmen Olivia Alvarez, Lucy DeWitt, Emily Hearney, Kasumi Layne-Stasik and Payton Melzer.

The team set up an online fundraising platform, for those who may want to contribute:

https://giving.side-out.org/campaigns/14985#/