MONROE — Every year, Monroe volleyball hosts a Pink Out match, where teams wear pink and proceeds from a Miracle Minute are donated to a cancer-related organization. But this year, the cause hit closer to home, as two players’ families have been affected by cancer — the DeMuths and Golembiewskis.
“We knew coming into this year that it was going to be a tough season — 16-, 17-, 18-year-old girls should not have to go through heavy stuff at this age,” Monroe volleyball head coach Cassie Wittman said. “We’ve talked all year about being there for each other.”
On Father’s Day this past summer, Monroe football coach Toby Golembiewski died after an 18-month battle with colon cancer. Since his death, the community has honored ‘Coach G’ with a memorial on the field, a moment of silence before the first home football game this season, a flag football tournament and a ‘Win the Day’ honoree during each home sporting event.
Throughout it all, the community also supported the Golembiewski family — wife Jodi, son Max and daughter Sophie, who is a senior on the varsity volleyball squad.
Likewise, Maddie DeMuth, a member of the junior varsity, struggles with her father’s cancer journey. Dan DeMuth went in for an unexpected bleed Oct. 16, 2023 and a CT scan was performed on Nov. 2. The next day, he learned he had Stage IV kidney cancer. On Jan. 9, 2024, he had surgery to remove his left kidney.
Since then, the community has made meals, sold T-shirts, held school assemblies and created a Facebook page to support the family — a group now called Team DeMuth.
“It means the world. It makes us glad that we chose this place as a home,” Dan said. “My wife and I are from Dubuque originally, so it makes us proud that we were able to plant roots here and call this home.”
During Monroe’s volleyball match with Jefferson on Sept. 24, junior varsity players went through the stands to collect money for the DeMuth family in a Miracle Minute. In that time, $663.38 was collected and the volleyball program matched that amount. Combined with T-shirt sales, the DeMuth family received $1,526.76.
“Last volleyball season was just a normal season, and this year it was more than that because my life completely changed,” Maddie said. “Knowing that every single girl on my team and all the teams above and below me are here for me, it means a lot. Volleyball has been such an amazing outlet.”
