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DIII is digging pink

A couple of Division III conferences are digging deep during October to support cancer research.

The 11 women’s volleyball teams in the Centennial Conference are joining together for the conference’s fifth annual “Digging for a Cure” campaign, while members of the Capital Athletic Conference are collaborating with national charitable efforts to raise awareness and funds through athletics.

In the Centennial Conference, league members are collecting donations and pledges from friends, families and team supporters for each dig the team recorded in a selected match. (A dig is a defensive play during which a player prevents an opponent’s attack from scoring by “digging” the ball before it hits the ground.) Pledges and donations will be collected in the first week of November.

Over the last four years, the 11 teams have raised $36,948 in donations and pledges. Last year, the money raised ($10,681) was donated to Living Beyond Breast Cancer (LBBC), a nonprofit organization based in Haverford, Pa., dedicated to empowering all women affected by breast cancer to live as long as possible with the best quality of life. The 2010 campaign targets the LBBC, as well.

In the Capital Athletic Conference, most of the teams are raising funds through volleyball “Dig Pink” initiatives to support the Susan G. Komen Foundation. Other options include Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, as well as local charitable alternatives.

St. Mary’s (Maryland) started the CAC’s month-long effort with the field hockey team raising funds for Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation for Childhood Cancer during the athletics department’s annual Hawktober Festival on Oct. 1-3.

Marymount (Virginia) served up the first of a handful of “Dig Pink” nights at volleyball games this past Wednesday when the Saints hosted Hood. Frostburg State, Hood, Mary Washington, Stevenson and York (Pennsylvania) will also host “Dig Pink” home volleyball events in October.