When Merritt Island hosts Satellite for high school volleyball on Thursday, more than the match will be on the line. The Mustangs and Scorpions will be raising money to battle cancer.
Alyssa Zwolensky of Merritt Island spikes the ball during Tuesday’s match against Cocoa Beach. Zwolensky had nine kills in the match.
Merritt Island’s varsity will host the Scorpions at 7 p.m.
Coach Angie Patrick and her players compiled a list of family members who have been touched by cancer, and the process brought a reality home to them.
“The list is too long,” Patrick said. “Everyone has been touched by it.”
The game program will include the names of victims. To raise money, there will be a silent auction, donation jar, bake sale and shirt sale. T-shirts have been made to honor victims.
Satellite coach Daren Bolton is included among those who have lost family members. So is Mustangs senior Alyssa Zwolensky, who lost her dad to a rare brain cancer in April.
“I feel like this is one way of helping his memory to live on,” Zwolensky said. “He would love that we are raising money.”
Georgianna United Methodist Church will match what is raised. Patrick pointed out the focus is more than breast cancer, which is highlighted every October, when sports teams of various types wear pink. Merritt Island plays in an annual Dig Pink tournament in Orlando, and that event is next weekend.
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Holy Trinity and Eastern Florida product Kerry Sweeney posted his first top 10 finish in Division I last week, helping the Ole Miss men’s golf team win the Franklin American Mortgage Intercollegiate in College Grove, Tenn.
Sweeney birdied four times in his final round, shooting 1-over for the tournament. His second-round 69, which was 3 under par, was his best day. The Melbourne native is a junior and a two-time FLORIDA TODAY Boys Golfer of the Year. He won the FHSAA title as a senior and the national junior college championship in May for EFSC.
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The Heritage High baseball program will benefit from a golf tournament at The Majors on Oct. 15 at 8 a.m. The goal is to build a new batting cage.
The cost of $65 includes lunch. Prizes will be awarded. Contact coach Rob Querry at 321-961-4746 or querry.robert@brevardschools.org.
Contact McCallum at 321-242-3698 or bmccallum@floridatoday.com. Follow facebook.com/FLtoday.brianmccallum and @Brian_McCallum on Twitter.
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