NATCHITOCHES – One benefit of being a volleyball libero is choosing which color jersey to wear in a match. One that distinguishes them from the rest of their teammates.
 
The color choice for Thursday's annual Fork Cancer match for senior Ashlyn Svoboda, who will don the libero jersey for the 75th time in her Northwestern State career, was never easier.
 
"Orange is the color for leukemia, so I'll be wearing my orange jersey in memory of my grandpa that passed away in July," Svoboda said. 
 
"It's hard losing someone so recently and he was such a big part of my volleyball life and a big support system for me. So being able to represent him and do something that I love at the same time is awesome."
 
First serve for the Thursday's match is set for 6:30 p.m. and can be seen on ESPN+. The first 25 fans who enter will receive a free Fork Cancer shirt. Natchitoches Regional Medical Center, the host for the annual event, will also be selling shirts that the proceeds from help support local cancer treatments.
 
Michael Bantz was a handyman, an avid gamer, loved to fish and travel and occasionally took trips to the casino, but to Ashlyn and her sister Mallory he was Poppy. He was their go-to person, their confidant, someone they could and did put their full trust in to be there for them and love them.
 
"He was our mom's stepdad, but he brought us in and treated us like we were his own grandkids," Svoboda said. "We couldn't be more thankful for that. He was always the guy that we could go to and ask anything.
 
"Growing up he was always like our computer wizard, almost like our own personal ChatGPT. Anything, he knew all about it. If we had a question and he didn't know the answer, he would figure it out. He was like our person to go to when we needed something."
 
And like any good grandparent, Poppy spoiled his grandkids through the years. A task happily done thanks to a backyard pool the Svoboda girls spent many days, nights and birthday parties at during the summer.
 
The fridge by the pool also came fully prepped with two crucial ingredients – ice cream and coke. The basis for the midnight coke float snack that always accompanied a long day at the pool and the job of blowing up the air mattress for that night's sleep over. 
 
"Coke floats were our thing," Svoboda said with a smile. "And we wouldn't eat breakfast until noon the next day because he liked to sleep in and it would take him an hour to get ready and we'd always be yelling at him to hurry up."
 
Those early afternoon breakfast buffets and late-night sugar rushes imprinted the thing that Ashlyn remembers most about her grandfather. The same thing that endured through the toughest circumstances anyone should ever have to endure.
 
"He always had a smile on his face no matter what," Svoboda said. "That's one thing that I'm going to take personally from him. Life's too short to be mad at things."
 
Bantz was diagnosed with leukemia in December of 2022. Following a year of treatment and even having the disease go into remission, it returned, and he was admitted to MD Anderson where he spent most of the final months of his life.
 
During his stay in the hospital, where he fought through more treatment, dialysis and many other procedures, Ashlyn, her mom and sister witnessed first-hand the toll the disease was taking on their beloved family member.
 
"At first it was normal, I mean of course he was sick, but we were able to interact and talk and all that," Svoboda said. "Towards the end and when he was in I.C.U. he was on dialysis and it kind of messed with his brain and he was starting to forget who people were and he wasn't able to have full conversations. There was a point where we couldn't wake him up and he was just there."
 
Bantz spent his final days in the comfort of his own home, where countless questions from his grandkids had been asked and answered, so many coke floats had been shared and priceless, core memories had been created over the years.
 
Poppy passed away on July 4, 2024.
 
"One of the last things he said to me was, 'keep being the same volleyball star we know you are," Svoboda said with tears in her eyes.
 
The last time that Bantz was able to see Svoboda play in person was two month prior to his diagnosis when the Demons traveled to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in late October of 2022. That was the same season that Ashlyn took over as the starting libero for Northwestern.
 
While his illness kept him from seeing his granddaughter do something she loves in person, it wasn't going to stop him from watching with every chance he had.
 
"When I was younger, they were at almost all of my games and he always wore his NSU shirt and hat," Svoboda said. "He loved that hat too. It was in his I.C.U. room and made me feel so special to see how much he loved me and supported me. Even when he was in the hospital, he was watching our games on ESPN and no matter what making that effort. I know that he was so proud of me and my sister for everything we do."
 
If there is one thing that cancer is good at it is changing a person's perspective on life and the things that truly matter at the end of the day.
 
The loss of one grandparent to cancer has done just that and shifted the way the Svoboda approaches the time she spends with the valued people in her life, and offered a much different perspective on another grandparent's current battle with the disease.
 
Bonnie Allen, known as Granny B, Svoboda's grandmother on her dad's side of the family was recently diagnosed with lung cancer and is currently undergoing treatment.
 
"Now that I'm a little older I realize how much you should appreciate time with everybody and don't take that time for granted," Svoboda said. "And valuing that time together instead of just saying we're here, really being present and enjoying it."