MHS Team Digs Pink

The Mahwah High Volleyball team wants to spend its season raising awareness, and funds, to help cure breast cancer, according to one of its senior captains, Kayla Ciliento.

We have been getting some help from our coach and parents, but really this something that we started as a team, something we are all doing together,” she said.

Ciliento’s plan is to start selling items to benefit the Side-Out Foundation’s “Dig Pink,” awareness campaign, through which volleyball teams across the country are raising funds.

The girls plan on selling Livestrong bracelets, sweat bands, and other items to raise money for the cause. On its online donation tracker, the team has set a goal of raising $750. They will sell in school, at games, and even at , she said.

Ciliento’s sister, a volleyball player, was involved at the campaign at Lafayette College in Pennsylvania, which the senior says is what prompted her to bring up the idea to the other team captains at MHS.

“Now, we want to expand it too. We definitely want to get the JV and freshmen teams involved, and the younger players in the rec program to help us out too,” she said.

“Since we help coach the rec players, I think it’ll be a great thing for us to do together.”

In October, the girls will play a special game decked on in tie-dyed pink gear in honor of the fundraiser.

Ciliento also said the girls want to approach other varsity teams at the high school to get them to “dig pink.”

“We want to get the football team in pink tie-dye for a game,” she said.

Fans can ask the team about the fundraiser at Monday night’s game, where the Lady T-Birds will take on top-seeded River Dell in a rivalry game. Last season, the Thunderbirds upset River Dell when the team was on a 9-0 winning streak, but River Dell came back to knock Mahwah out of the state semi-finals.

“There’s definitely a bit of a rivalry there, so I think it’s going to be a good game to watch, and to start selling things for Dig Pink,” Ciliento said.