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Beloved coach will be missed

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Brad Cook, wearing a Matt Hartner Memorial Fund shirt at a game earlier this season to commemorate the passing of Matt Hartner.

The main gym is normally filled with happy memories for the Varsity volleyball team, bringing excitement as the season approached and a smile to the girls’ faces. However, this year brought a feeling of sorrow and devastation after assistant volleyball coach Matt Hartner passed away.

Hartner was 30 years old when he passed away in his sleep on August 13, during the week of the high school volleyball camp.

The news of Hartner’s passing came to the attention of head coach Lori Anderson-Cook early that morning. After Anderson-Cook informed her team, camp was then cancelled for the rest of the day.

The loss of Hartner was incredibly hard for Anderson-Cook. Although she had only been coaching with Hartner for four years at the high school, she had known Hartner for most of his life. She did not refer to Hartner as his official title of “assistant coach”, but instead saw him as a  “co-head coach”.

“I’ve known Matt since he was probably 10 years old,” Anderson-Cook said. “I was in absolute shock when I found out [about] Matt’s passing, I could barely talk or even walk for at least thirty minutes, and that shock lasted for about a week.”

Anderson-Cook had formerly coached with Hartner’s dad Jim Hartner for several years, and had coached with the Hartners for about 22 years total.

Matt Hartner is survived by his parents, Jim and Caroline; grandmother, Pat Hartner; sisters and brother in-laws, Jamie and Jacob Pietzold and Julie and Andre Stickney; nieces and nephews, Gabriel, Hannah, Leyton Stickney and Madison and Noah Pietzold; and his girlfriend Jessica Nicoli.

Matt Hartner had coached at places such as Gresham High School, Mt. Hood Community College, the University of Oregon and several club volleyball teams. After he passed away, his family received an outpouring of support from people that he had affected in his life.

“It’s been amazing. I’m pretty confident no one in my family could get through this without it,” Matt Hartner’s sister Julie Stickney said. “It’s nice to know how loved you are.”

Along with the support from the community, the high school also contributed. Girls on the volleyball team got together the day they heard the news to create posters that they hung up around the gym.

These posters signified Matt Hartner in many ways, with sayings such as “All for one, One for All,” which is also the saying on the team’s warm-up shirts.

The loss of Matt Hartner hit hard for Kalie Anderson, Lori Anderson-Cook’s daughter who is a freshman this year. Anderson had looked up to Matt Hartner and was looking forward to being able to play for him on the high school team.

“He was like a brother to me,” Anderson said. “I was so excited to play for him ever since I was little, and now that he’s gone, when I’m on the court I feel lost.”

For senior Cassidy Richardson, this would have been her third year on Varsity playing for both Anderson-Cook and Matt Hartner and her fourth year in the program.

“It’s been really hard and I think as a team we put extra pressure on ourselves to succeed for Matt,” Richardson said. “But when it comes down to it we aren’t going to win every game, and [Anderson-Cook] has done a good job pulling us together and motivating us to be great.”

One way the team did honor Matt Hartner was to dedicate their first home game to him. A Facebook page was created about the event, inviting many to come to the game to honor him.

The game had an amazing turnout, with much of the crowd in the “Matty J” t-shirts and sweatshirts with Matt Hartner’s name and number 80 on it. The proceeds from these shirts went straight to the Matt Hartner Memorial Fund, which his family created.

“The love and support there was unbelievable and I’m so grateful to everyone that came,” Richardson said. “We played with a lot of different emotions that game.”

Before the game Anderson-Cook read a statement, and then handed the microphone over to Jim Hartner. As they spoke about him, his family made their way down to the gym floor and were given picture frames filled with pictures of Matt Hartner.

Balloons were then handed out to anyone that wanted one and were taken outside the gym and let go in honor of Matt Hartner. Family members, current and past volleyball players, and anyone else that Matt Hartner had touched all let go a balloon to honor him.

“Matt so loved coaching volleyball, but for much more than the sport,” Jim Hartner said. “He loved teaching young women to work hard and enjoy it, how to always have respect for others and care about what you do and say. Matt cared, loved and respected.”

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Father Jim Hartner and Lori Anderson-Cook give a speech at a volleyball game after the passing of Matt Hartner.
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