Following the Oct. 26 Valdosta State University match, a concert will be held to honor the life of a former UNA volleyball player. The match will also be the second annual “Coaches vs. Cancer” match.

Former UNA player Caroline Neisler, 21, of Jacksonville, Ala. died of acute myeloid leukemia on May 15, two weeks after being diagnosed.

 “It was a shock,” said senior volleyball player Hope Rayburn. “It broke my heart.”

 Rayburn played with Neisler from their sophomore year in high school until the 2012 season with the Lions.

 “She was really a people person,” Rayburn said. “She always had a smile on her face. If you look at any of her old game photos, she is always smiling.”

 Head volleyball coach Stephanie Radecki coached Neisler for three seasons.

 “Caroline was a very special student athlete; she was very special to me,” Radecki said. “She was one of those players that made you smile every day, she made me want me to be a better person and a better coach. So, I definitely think it was extremely hard to see her family go through that and our players and all her friends that lost her.”

 Neisler transferred to Samford University following the 2012 fall semester. Rayburn knew Neisler was going to transfer before the end of the 2012 fall semester, she said.

 “It was something she really wanted to do and I know she was happy there,” she said.

 Getting the news that Neisler was sick caught Rayburn off guard, she said.

 “It was a shock because you have the thought, ‘that can never happen to me,’ and I never thought that would happen to her,” she said.

 Radecki had a hard time talking with Neisler’s former teammates, she said.

 “It is hard to know what to say,” she said. “We called a meeting of the team and some her former teammates to let them know that we were there for them.”

 Rayburn talked to Neisler every day while she was sick, she said.

 “She wasn’t allowed to have any visitors once she started her treatments, so we would facetime every day,” Rayburn said. “Some days when she didn’t feel good, we would just text but we talked every day. She still had a smile on her face everyday. Towards the end, she still had a smile on her face, but you could tell it wasn’t easy.”

Rayburn was able to find peace through her faith after Neisler died, she said.

 “Just knowing she is in a better place helps a lot,” she said. “She was definitely a Christian and if you ask anybody that knew her, they would say she was one of the best people they ever knew.”

 The volleyball team has been hosting an annual cancer awareness match for five years, Radecki said.

 “The American Cancer Society approached us two summers ago to change our ‘Dig Pink’ event over to ‘Coaches vs. Cancer’ and that they would work with us,” she said. “And the money we raised, instead of going to a foundation far away, it goes to a local branch.”

 There will be a silent auction that will begin at noon the day of the match and will end at the end of the second set of the match, Athletic Development Director Megan Lovelace said.

 Several coaches and businesses from around the area donated the items for the auction, she said.

 Fans at the game will also be able to pledge a certain amount of money per ace that is served during the match, she said.

 The Lions will host the University of West Georgia on Friday, Oct. 25, at 7 p.m.

 Radecki thinks the game against VSU on Oct. 26 is important, but she realizes what is more important.

 “When it comes down to it, a volleyball match is a volleyball match,” she said.