VOLLEYBALL; THE COLLECTOR: GANNON GATHERS 300TH WIN, PLEDGES FOR CANCER

Southeast Missouri State University volleyball coach Cindy Gannon recorded her 300th career victory over the weekend, which is quite an accomplishment considering she is in just her 12th season with the Otahkians.

But Gannon, when congratulated by a reporter, said she appreciated the thought but hasn't gotten very caught up in the milestone.

"I'm just not much into personal accolades," she said. "I've just been so fortunate to have had fantastic volleyball players over the years of my career. They deserve all the credit."

While the enthusiastic and energetic Gannon doesn't like to spend much time talking about herself, the words flow freely when the subject of her team's fundraising efforts for breast cancer comes up.

During Southeast's October home matches -- October is Breast Cancer Awareness month -- the Otahkians have been holding a "Dig 4 Life" program, where money is raised through pledges for every dig the squad records.

There have been three home matches so far this month, with the final one Sunday as Tennessee Tech visits Houck Field House for a 2 p.m. contest.

Her squad's fundraising is something Gannon regards as very special, because breast cancer has touched her life in a deep and personal way. In July, the coach's mother passed away after a six-year battle with the disease.

"My mom fought breast cancer for six years," she said. "I was with her every step of the way, and the whole time she was going through this, I thought there had to be something I could do, not so much to raise money but to create awareness for the disease in our female athletes, and all women, that unfortunately some of them might have to go through this some day, but hopefully they catch it early enough to survive it.

"If it can just save one person's life, it will have made a difference."

Gannon said the "Dig 4 Life" program is something her entire squad has been totally behind.

"Everyone on the team believes in it," she said. "The players have all really supported it."

While Gannon said the Otahkians won't end up raising a huge amount of money this year, she would like to expand the program in the future and definitely make it an annual event.

"We've raised about $2,000," she said. "For the first year, I've been really pleased. We would like to expand it next year and maybe add a corporate sponsor."

Gannon said that pledges can still be made for Sunday's final home match of the month. Anyone interested in making a pledge should call the Southeast volleyball office at 651-2997.

"I think it's been great for us to get involved in this wonderful cause," she said. "We just want to make as many people as we can aware, and let them know that early detection is the key."

Now, back to that 300th victory, which came Saturday when the Otahkians beat host Murray State. She now has a 301-148 career mark after Tuesday's victory at Austin Peay.

"To have gotten 300 wins so early in my career, I feel very fortunate," she said. "We have a fabulous volleyball tradition here and we continue to attract quality athletes. It's just a fabulous situation here. And the administration has been so supportive.

"Every year, I think we can't top it (what happened the previous year), and then the team continues to amaze me. This group has done such a good job."

The Otahkians have won seven of nine Ohio Valley Conference regular-season championships since joining the league and they have all but locked up another OVC title. Southeast, 15-8 overall, is 11-0 in conference play with six matches left. Every other OVC squad has at least three losses.

"Right now we're in control of our destiny," said Gannon, whose team has advanced to the NCAA Tournament in three of the past four seasons. "The only team that can hurt SEMO is SEMO."