Phoenix Show Out For Pink Out

The Phoenix battled the Park View Patriots on Oct. 12 for their annual Dig Pink game in support of the Side-Out Foundation. The Phoenix won all three sets.

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Harini Kannan

Poised for the perfect strike, sophomore Grace Tucker aims to score. Tucker was a team star in the first set, scoring multiple set winning strikes. “I’m really glad we won the game because it was our Dig Pink game and we all came together as a team and played well,” Tucker said.

Meeting in the main gym of Rock Ridge, the Park View Patriots and the Phoenix meet to clash during their Dig Pink match, in support of breast cancer awareness on Oct 12. The Dig Pink game served as not only a very entertaining match, but a heartwarming fundraiser in support of the Side-Out Foundation. “I think that for a lot of our team and for a lot of our school, it meant a lot to have an event dedicated to pink out and breast cancer,” junior Emily Lam said.

On the court, the Phoenix proved victorious, led by strikers like sophomores Grace Tucker and Isha Uppalli, ending set one 25-13, two 25-16, and three 25-18.

Throughout the match, Tucker proved to be an integral player, scoring a multitude of points and establishing a lead in the 1st and 2nd sets. Though the Patriots pulled through with early leads, key strikers like Tucker managed to offset this point deficit just as swiftly. The Patriots did not go down without a fight, however, ending set 1 with 13 points; they were able to block many of Tucker’s aforementioned strikes, as well as performing last-second saves.  

The Phoenix also made sure of their ability to make good serves. Uppalli and freshman Michelle Kim were great servers during the second and third sets, often scoring from the first serve. Uppalli made some especially strong serves in the second set, putting the Phoenix a few points closer toward victory. 

The Dig Pink match also included a special raffle, where everyone was assigned a number with their ticket and was awarded if their number was called out. According to Lam, this was organized mostly by the team mom. The raffle mainly consisted of prizes that were held in a bucket which winners could choose a prize from, and proceeds went to The Side-Out Foundation.