The DePaul Blue Demons lost against the Creighton Bluejays 3-1 (25-8, 27-29, 25-12, 25-17) to give the Blue Demons their first conference loss of the year. 

On Oct. 4, 595 people attended the Dig Pink Match at McGrath-Phillips Arena on DePaul’s Lincoln Park campus, a game designed to raise awareness about breast cancer during Breast Cancer Awareness Month. 

Emily Hood, 43, enjoyed the event and saw the awareness DePaul was bringing attention to.

“There’s people wearing pink and waving pink flags, and I think any kind of awareness you can bring to breast cancer is a good thing,” Hood said. 

Heading into the match against the 14th-ranked Bluejays, coach Marie Zidek knew the challenge her team faced. She was happy to see her squad extend the match to four sets, as Creighton is not known for giving up many points, she said. 

“It could have very easily been shutdown mode after set one,” Zidek said. “But the team chose to respond and to work through what they needed to do to present a quality game in set two when we were able to steal a set off them, which not too many teams are going to do this conference season.” 

Freshman outside hitter Kendall Timme echoed her coach’s sentiment and was proud of how the team still fought to the end. 

“Obviously, that wasn’t our best first set, and we knew we needed to push back harder,” said Timme, who was named the Big East offensive player of the week on Sept. 29. She led the team with 12 kills. 

DePaul’s hitting percentage was -0.211 for the first set, but rose to 0.324 when they took the second set. 

The Blue Demons were proud of the fact that they were helping bring awareness to the community. Sophomore middle blocker Jade Dudley-Epps has family members who are survivors of breast cancer.

“I pray for all the families that are dealing with cancer and their family members. Stay strong, fight on,” said Dudley-Epps, who was named to the Big East Honor Roll list of the week on Sept. 29. She had seven kills in the game. 

Many fans attended this game, but one group continued to show unwavering support for the Blue Demons from start to finish.

The 5th-grade girls’ volleyball team from Catherine Cook School attended the game and stood in front of the Blue Demons during the anthem. 

Catherine Cook School’s volleyball players Eve Hood and Lilian Watkins were excited to be a part of the event and enjoyed the game itself. 

It is a visual that Emily Hood, Eve Hood’s mother, thought was special.

“It gives them role models to look at and the camaraderie that we’re seeing amongst the players,” Emily Hood said. 

Ben Rome, 31, is the head coach of the Cougars volleyball team. This was his first Division 1 game, and he was surprised to see the players on both teams having fun on the sidelines compared to the male sports he’s attended. 

The energy his team brought to the game was noticeable not just to the team but also to Zidek.

“It was on our team today to make sure that they gave those little kids a fun game to watch, and they did that,” Zidek said after the game. 

Timme and Dudley-Epps were happy to stay after the game, even with the loss, to chat with the kids who attended. Timme feels lucky to have a fan base and enjoys giving autographs, while Dudley-Epps said that the kids’ joyfulness on the sidelines brought them up and makes them want to play better.

“It was so exciting to see them,” Dudley-Epps said. 

Coach Zidek wants to continue seeing the community attend these games and notes that McGrath-Phillips Arena is open to everyone.

“I think our ticketing department and marketing department did such a great job. We love these community-based events. We really want to make sure that McGrath-Phillips Arena is open  for the community and their children to come and enjoy,” Zidek said. 

The Blue Demons will travel to Queens, NY, to take on St. John’s on Oct. 10. 

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