SLOAN, Iowa (KTIV) -
Andrea Derocher has won volleyball tournaments before, but that's not why she's playing Friday night.
"Jordyn Lamoureux actually is the reason that I'm reason here. Cystic fibrosis is what we're raising money for," said Derocher.
A sophomore at Sloan's Westwood High, Lamoureux was born with cystic fibrosis and has battled it ever since. The genetic disease affects the lungs and digestive tract, and it has no known cure yet.
"It's not anything that's going to completely go away. It's something that slowly gets worse. She goes through a lot of different treatments; she's in the hospital constantly. They're always traveling, trying to find a new way a better way," said Derocher, her former coach at Westwood.
Lamoureux loves volleyball and played the sport for years. Three years ago, her parents decided to organize a tournament, where folks could have fun and fight for a good cause.
"We thought the student council could work together and be able to raise some money and more importantly raise awareness for the disease, cystic fibrosis," said Rich Lamoureux, Jordyn's dad.
The tournament was able to generate a lot of interest right off the bat. In its first year, 24 teams were part of it. Now, they've been able to grow by 25 percent since that first year.
Each player had to pay $5 to enter the tournament. Teams had no cap for the number of players, but only a co-ed group of four could be on the court at a time.
Zach Greder, a fellow sophomore at Westwood knows Lamoureux's battle is tough, but he says paying and playing a part in the tournament is worth it, to help find a cure.
"She's missed a lot of school for it, and it's been rough for her, so it's really kind of a big deal for her," said Greder.
Lamoureux's brother Elijah has seen his sister fight the disease for years.
"She takes it like a normal day. So, she's pretty brave," said Elijah Lamoureux.
And she'll be out on the court with her teammates, continuing to play and fight cystic fibrosis.
"The only time I've ever known that she was sick, she never acts like it, she turned to me and said, 'Coach, I can't play.' And that hurt," said Derocher.
With each point, the community is rallying behind Lamoureux, and trying to help find a cure.
All the money raised at this tournament will go to research to help find a cure for cystic fibrosis.
