Boys Volleyball: Pickerington North dedicates season to fallen teammate Andres Nunez Cano
Marci Truex’s best memories of Andres Nunez Cano from the all-too-short time she was around him involve learning.
Nunez Cano took up volleyball last fall as a freshman at Pickerington North, and Truex — in her 18th season as the Panthers’ boys coach — found herself both teaching and learning new words, even newer than she might have known.
“When I had volleyball things to say, I asked him how to say this or that in Spanish and he would teach me,” Truex said. “A couple times, he just said, ‘Coach, there isn’t a word for that.’ I said, ‘If you figure it out, let me know.’ I might as well have made my own words. That was our schtick, that he would come up with a Spanish word for what I was saying in English. And it let me practice Spanish.”
Nunez Cano still has a presence during the Panthers’ matches and practices, but not the one anyone wanted or expected.
North has dedicated its season to Nunez Cano, who died in his sleep March 13 at age 16. The cause of death had not been determined as of early May, according to Truex.
Several players wear headbands adorned with his initials. Team shirts have his name and the slogan “Do More” on the back, and many of the Panthers’ opponents have held moments of silence before matches.
Nunez Cano played libero and was slated to start the season on junior varsity.
“We were still getting to know him. It hit us pretty hard,” senior setter Aidan Rose said. “(Truex) still gets pretty teared up talking about him. She treats us like we’re her kids. We’ve gone into every match playing for Andres.”
Freshman Drew Vensko, now the team’s primary setter, introduced the game to Nunez Cano last year. Nunez Cano regularly attended open gyms even as Vensko split time between his high school and club teams.
Vensko still regularly speaks of Nunez Cano in the present tense.
“He just picked (the game) up. He loved it,” Vensko said. “He definitely has some athleticism, especially with his feet. He’d even kick-save some of the balls. ...
“I was looking forward to playing with him. We’d have worked well together. The libero passes to the setter so the setter can set to the hitter and get a kill. It all goes hand in hand. You can’t be a good setter without having good passers right there with you.”
North played its best during the second half of the regular season, shaking off a 3-6 start with a six-match winning streak in April. The Panthers were 12-9 overall before playing Hilliard Davidson on May 11 and finished 6-8 in the OCC-Ohio Division.
The Division I East Region tournament draw was May 15, and postseason matches begin May 20 and 21.
Vensko said the team’s play might ultimately be the best way to honor Nunez Cano.
“We all grieved. We’re never going to get over it, but we’re all here for each other,” Vensko said. “Any way possible that we can honor him, we will.”
•Central enters the regional tournament as the OCC-Ohio champion for the first time, having completed a 14-0 run through the league with a 25-16, 25-20, 25-20 win over New Albany on May 5.
The Tigers clinched a tie two nights earlier with a 25-15, 25-7, 25-19 victory at Reynoldsburg, and while the team did not celebrate, coach Luke Rininger appreciated the achievement. The program was one of two — along with girls bowling — not to have won a league championship.
“It’s overwhelming,” said Rininger, who is stepping down after this season following 10 years at the helm. “The guys have stayed focused and taken care of business all year. We’re not a team that has had to come from behind much, but we’ve had those matches where we’ve been behind eight or 10 points but the team chemistry has pulled through. Sometimes, we’ve deserved to lose, but we’ve clawed our way back. This stretch, it’s something we’ve never done before.”
Central was 18-4 before playing Hilliard Darby in the OCC Challenge on May 16. It had won 17 of its previous 18 matches and lost only three games in league play.
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This article originally appeared on ThisWeek: Volleyball: Pickerington North plays season for fallen teammate
