Pennfield volleyball hosting 'Block Out Cancer' night to help Panther coach with leukemia

BATTLE CREEK - The girls on the volleyball team thought maybe one of their coaches was pregnant. That would have been incredibly happy news.

What they found out was quite different. The news about their coach, was about as far away from that as you can get.

Hannah Belote, who is a coach in the Pennfield volleyball program, was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia last May, leaving the Panther community shocked.

"She was sick a lot and had a lot of the symptoms you see when you are pregnant. So, us girls, we all thought she was pregnant," said Pennfield senior captain Avery Hock. "When we found out what was really happening, it was really, really upsetting. She is such a great person. Just couldn't stand seeing something like that happen to her. It seems like bad things seem to always happen to the best people."

Belote is the freshman volleyball coach for Pennfield, but has been away from her team all season as she has been getting treatments to deal with her diagnosis.

"It was May 17. She just went in for some routine blood work and after she got home, the doctor called her and said she had to come back right away. She was in the hospital that night getting treatments," said Pennfield varsity coach Brooke Wells. "It was a shock to everybody. She is 28 years old. Totally healthy. It was just so surprising. We just couldn't believe it."

Belote was in the hospital for four weeks, getting chemotherapy and radiation treatments. She was able to go home from there, where she awaited bone marrow transplant surgery, which she had at the end of August.

On Wednesday, Pennfield will host a 'Block Out Cancer' event for its home volleyball match with Harper Creek in her honor. There will be a silent auction, a raffle and the team will be selling 'Block Out Cancer' T-shirts with all proceeds going to the Belote family to help with medical and other expenses.

"We wanted to do something to raise awareness and raise some money for her and her family for the medical costs," Wells said. "We are hoping for a big crowd Wednesday. Harper Creek is coming in. Hannah coaches some club volleyball also and she has coached some of the girls at Harper Creek as well. We are rivals, but at the end of the day, the big picture is about life and helping her battle this cancer.

"She won't be able to be here because she has to worry about infection after the transplant, but she is overwhelmed by the reaction. She is just thankful for the Pennfield and volleyball community."

Several of the varsity volleyball players at Pennfield played for Belote when they were freshmen, including Hock who is excited her team can do something to help their coach.

"When we heard, it was really hard on us because, as a team, we are so close to her, hang out with her every day at practice, see her kids all the time," Hock said. "She loves what she does, loves coaching and loves volleyball. I think it's been really hard for her to step away and focus on her health. But, I think it's a good thing that she is taking time to focus on herself.

"This event, this match we are doing, is very important. We are doing it to raise awareness for what she is going through. I don't think a lot of people knew about this before we started putting this together. So now, everybody is talking about it and people will realize how important it is to get involved and help out because of how important she is to all of us."

Contact Bill Broderick at bbroderi@battlecreekenquirer.com. Follow him on X/Twitter @billbroderick.

This article originally appeared on Battle Creek Enquirer: Pennfield volleyball raising funds to support coach with cancer