The Clarion University women's volleyball team will be thinking pink when it hosts Mercyhurst in a key PSAC-West match at 7 p.m. Friday at Tippin Gym.

            That's because it will be the Golden Eagles annual Dig Pink event to raise money and bring about awareness of breast cancer.

            "I believe it's important not only to support breast cancer research and awareness, but also because within our team we have many athletes who have personally been effected by relatives who either have breast cancer or who have had breast cancer," Clarion head coach Jennifer Harrison said.
            This season, Clarion is running its event in coordination with the Side-Out Foundation, which was established in 2004 to support health-care professional in their pursuit of practical solutions for women and men with breast cancer thus enabling those affected to regain control of their lives and living them to the fullest.
            "We are raising money in a couple of different ways," Harrison said. "We will be selling t-shirts for $15 and we will also be asking for donations for the pink ribbons.
            "We are also encouraging everyone that comes to the match to wear something pink."
            Anyone buying a t-shirt or making a donation will get a raffle ticket for one of two bags the women's volleyball team will be raffling off Friday night.
            "We have a hand-crafted Steelers bag and a hand-crafted ribbon bag," Harrison said. "Inside the ribbon bag will be a water bottle and a fleece blanket as well."
            T-shirts can be bought and donations made prior to the event by contacting Harrison at 814-393-1997 or at jharrison@clarion.edu <mailto:jharrison@clarion.edu> . To make a donation to Clarion's efforts on-line or to find out more information about the Dig Pink effort, visit Clarion's team page on the Side-Out web site at https://www.side-out.org/application/teams/team_page/2089 <https://www.side-out.org/application/teams/team_page/2089> .
            NOTES - Admission to all Clarion regular-season volleyball matches is free ... The Golden Eagles are 21-6 on the season including 11-2 in the PSAC. Clarion topped Mercyhurst 3-2 Sept. 26 ... More information on the Clarion volleyball team as well as all Clarion University athletic teams can be found at www.clariongoldeneagles.com <http://www.clariongoldeneagles.com> ... The 2009 objectives of the Side-Out Foundation are to raise 1,000,000 for breast cancer, create a Side-Out Foundation Clinical Trails based on Molecular Profiling and Targeted Therapies, Create the Side-Out Foundation Tumor Bank and recruit 3,000 teams to participate in Dig Pink events throughout the year. More information in the foundation can be found at www.side-out.org <http://www.side-out.org>.