Watch indoor volleyball, and you’ll see one player diving everywhere to keep the point alive, and at suburban Notre Dame College Prep in Niles, that player is Caiden Frawley.
“If I wasn’t wearing pants, I’d show you my knees right now and how scraped up and bruised they are,” Frawley says proudly.
That’s the life of a libero, the defensive specialist and quarterback on the court. Frawley is in his third season as the Dons starting libero, and head coach Peter Maniscalco considers him one of the best in the state, but not just because of his playing ability.
“[He] makes everyone better, cares about others, wants to see the best in other people,” Maniscalco says. “He’s a natural born leader, and he always has been since day one.”
The senior has proven it all spring, but he’s willing to sacrifice cuts and bruises for a cause. Frawley came up with a heartwarming idea to honor his Aunt Mare – as well as a few others in the community – who were recently taken by cancer: a donation to the American Cancer Society for each of his digs.
“One dollar per dig,” the 18 year-old says. “I feel like I can do pretty well in that realm, being a libero and getting digs. I feel like I can succeed in that, and one dollar sounded like a good amount.”
“Anytime he gets a difficult [dig] in defense, the guys on the bench are yelling, ‘That’s a dollar, that’s a dollar’, and it gets them going,” Maniscalco says.
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Maniscalco is going to match the final donation amount, and seven other community residents have agreed to do the same, including some rival coaches. The support is enormously meaningful to Frawley.
“To know there are other people out there who are going to match my amount, and even people who have donated flat, it means a lot to me to know there are people out there who still want to be part of this cause,” says Frawley, who’s headed to college at Marquette after graduation.
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As the Dons season winds down, Frawley is at 262 digs and counting, each one well worth the bruise or scrape that came with it.
“If I can get a touch on it, to know in my mind that might be one more dollar, it fills my heart a little bit more.”
