Photo by Brandon Lee
By Luke Ito
Sports Reporter
Newton South fell in three sets to Needham on Friday while hosting their annual Dig Pink event. The event combined the efforts of the two high schools to raise awareness for breast cancer and to support breast cancer research.
The teams wore pink shirts before the game and all proceeds from food and raffles went toward breast cancer research.
Needham and South played a back and forth game for the first set, but South struggled to take the lead, trailing by one or two points for the first half of the set. Later in the set, however, the girls mounted a comeback, pulling ahead on an Ella Kim spike, 22-21.
South put a few more points up to separate themselves from the Rockets, but Needham surged back. The set was capped off by a controversial call on what would have been the winning point for South. Instead, the ball went to Needham, who scored on consecutive attacks to win the set, 26-24.
The second set was similar to the first, but this time South held a small lead. The Lions were ahead for most of the set but ultimately lost on a series of key errors.
Captain Ella Kim commented on the late collapse.
“I think the game was well-fought and definitely intense, but we should have finished strong and won each set,” she said. “We were ahead 7 points at one point. We just had too many unforced errors.”
Needham was able to hold onto the lead for much of the third set, finishing the set with a comfortable lead over South, 19-25, to take the match, 3-0.
Despite the tough loss, South was proud of the event as a whole.
“The event overall was a huge success,” Kim commented. “It was great seeing so many people coming together to support the same cause and I loved that we were contributing by raising money.”
Captain Catherine Patti elaborated on the positive outcome of the Dig Pink event.
“There was tons of energy, a good crowd, and we raised a lot of money,” she commented. “It feels really good to raise money for this great foundation because we get to help make a difference in the research that can make such a great impact in so many people’s lives by just hosting a community event and playing the game we love.”
South will face Wayland at home this Tuesday, where they look to improve their record to 8-4.
