The Vikings and host Wildcats played in the area's first ‘‘Volley for the Cure’’ match this season. Waterloo won, three games to one, but that proved to be insignificant compared with the awareness and money the two teams raised to help fight breast cancer.

‘‘Every player here is a potential breast cancer victim,’’ Mogadore coach Shelley Pollock said. ‘‘We're all potential victims. My grandmother had it, so I'm at a high risk. I want them (players) to realize how important it is, and I think they do realize it.

‘‘A lot of their families have been touched by it, so it meant a lot to a lot of them. I think we all learned a lot about doing something outside yourself.’’

‘‘Volley for the Cure’’ started last season when the Cincinnati Sycamore and Loveland volleyball teams turned a regular-season match into a breast-cancer awareness fundraiser. The two teams raised more than $4,000 for cancer research.

That success encouraged the Ohio volleyball coaches association to take the idea statewide this season. Hundreds of Ohio high schools and some middle schools will play a ‘‘Volley for the Cure’’ match this season.

Pollock said Mogadore raised more than $2,000 by selling raffle tickets and pink ‘‘Volley for the Cure’’ T-shirts ($5 each).

‘‘For a volleyball match, we had a huge crowd,’’ Pollock said. ‘‘We usually open one side of the bleachers. The community was awesome, and our kids were awesome. You should have seen our school today. More than half of the kids in school were wearing pink T-shirts.’’

Waterloo coach Karla Bedard said her team has sold 520 T-shirts this season.

‘‘It's made a big impact on the kids,’’ Bedard said. ‘‘A lot of it is about fundraising, but we're pushing awareness. It brings the school and community together. I think it's great.’’

Waterloo and Mogadore players paid tribute to breast cancer survivors by escorting nine of them onto the gymnasium floor during team introductions before the game.

Waterloo junior Kelsey Hylton escorted her grandmother Sheila Bruce, 61, of Brady Lake.

‘‘It's good that we can support people that have lived through it,’’ Hylton said.

More than two dozen ‘‘Volley for the Cure’’ matches are scheduled in the area, and more schools are finalizing plans for their matches.

Jackson coach Julie Kovick said the Polar Bears plan raffles and contests when they host Lake in a ‘‘Volley for the Cure’’ match 7 p.m. Sept. 27.

‘‘I think it's a neat way to bring the sport itself together,’’ Kovick said. ‘‘Even though you're going to go out and play a competitive game, it shows how everybody can work together to fight a bigger battle.’’

Tallmadge coach Jen Urycki said her junior varsity team has been working at a concession stand all season, and the money will go to ‘‘Volley for the Cure.’’ Tallmadge will hold its fundraiser match when it hosts Highland at 7 p.m. Oct. 4.

‘‘It's just an awesome endeavor for all the teams in the state to participate in,’’ Urycki said. ‘‘It's just such an awesome thing for the girls to be playing in because sports is about more than just playing the matches, and there are so many life lessons to be learned.’’

For more information about the effort, go to OHSVCA.org.