by Russell Vannozzi | Oct 11, 2018 | News Slider, Sports
Alyssa Zwolensky was scrolling through Instagram to try to get some insight on her future Lipscomb volleyball teammates. She was, after all, about to make the 700-mile trip to Nashville from her home in Rockledge, Florida, to enroll at Lipscomb a semester early, which understandably caused some nerves. Then she came across the page of Megan Sullivan, who was set to transfer to Lipscomb from Houston for the Spring 2017 semester. Sullivan played sparingly for the Cougars in 2016 and wanted a chance to restart her college volleyball career in a new city. Zwolesnky eventually noticed a picture of Sullivan with her dad, who was sporting a scar on his head. After Zwolesnky did more digging and exchanged a few texts with Sullivan, things took a dark turn. “Also, what type of brain cancer does your Dad have?” Alyssa texted Megan. “I was like, “I don’t know, it’s some long name that starts with a ‘G’,’” said Sullivan, who checked with her stepmother to confirm the scientific name of her father’s disease, which was glioblastoma, an aggressive cancer that affects the brain or spine and currently has no cure. Zwolesnky was stunned. Her father, James, had passed away from the very same type of cancer in April 2016, just five months after his initial diagnosis. “We were just like ‘wow,’” Sullivan said. The connection formed an instant bond between the two girls. Finally, they each had someone who understood the pain glioblastoma can cause a family. “It’s an unreal story,” said Lipscomb volleyball coach Brandon Rosenthal. “For Alyssa to have somebody like Megan, and Megan to have somebody like Alyssa…no...
