Volleyball dedicates game to Coach’s mother
Team shows support for battle against lung cancer battle
October 15, 2016
When volleyball head coach Whitney Meierotto-Simon entered the gym, she was blown away by the overwhelming support from the volleyball program.
During the game against Burnsville on Monday, Oct. 10, players and fans wore white and collected donations to support Meierotto-Simon’s mom, Wendy Meierotto, who is battling lung cancer.
Meierotto-Simon said she was surprised and thankful for the comfort and encouragement from the players, parents and coaching staff.
“I had no clue they were doing this and they know how big of a struggle it’s been,” Meierotto-Simon said. “For everyone to go out of their way to make a night so special for me and my mom has given her more motivation to beat cancer.”
According to senior Taylor Ewald, she wanted to dedicate the game to Meierotto because of Meierotto-Simon’s dedication to the volleyball program.
“She puts so much into the volleyball program and this was one thing that we could do to give back to her,” Ewald said.
Ewald said she brought the idea up to her teammates and coaches to see if it could happen.
“I talked to a few other girls to see if it was something they wanted to do,” Ewald said, “Then I ran it by my assistant coach.”
Assistant varsity coach Megan Hansen said she thought the idea was a great way to recognize the hard work of Meierotto-Simon and the strength of Meierotto.
“We wanted to acknowledge that Whitney comes everyday to practice ready to serve the players even with so much going on outside of the gym,” Hansen said. “Her mom is also a volleyball coach and we wanted to let her know that she has warriors praying and thinking of her everywhere.”
According to Hansen, Meierotto didn’t know the game was dedicated to her.
“[Meierotto] thought she were coming down to surprise Whitney,” Hansen said. “She didn’t know the game was in her honor until she walked into the gym and heard the tribute being read about her.”
According to Meierotto-Simon, her mother felt honored by the support from the program.
“To find out that the girls were actually celebrating for her and trying to get donations for her, she was filled with gratitude and was, literally, speechless,” Meierotto-Simon said.
The Orioles lost 2-3 against the Burnsville Blaze, dropping their record to 11-10.
The girls’ next game takes place at 7 p.m. Oct. 17 at Park against the Bloomington Kennedy Eagles.
