ST. JOSEPH, Minn. - Whenever things on the court aren't going the way Ingrid Noha had hoped, or she's frustrated over something that feels too much to handle in the moment, all the College of Saint Benedict junior has to do is look down at her shoes.
 
There she'll find her inspiration. There she'll find her reason to push forward.
 
That's where the 5-foot-10 setter/outside hitter on the Bennie volleyball team has written "Cully's Way," in honor of her cousin Cullen Cisneros, who passed away at just 15 this past May after a five-year battle with cancer.
 
"He's definitely the reason I'm here today, still playing volleyball and succeeding in school," she said. "He's the reason I cherish every single day and don't take anything for granted. Because that's the way he lived his life. He never gave up ever, no matter what he was facing."
 
Cisneros – the younger brother of former Saint John's defensive back Mateo Cisneros '25 – was diagnosed with leukemia when he was three, but overcame the disease. Then, in 2020, he was diagnosed with Ewing's sarcoma (a form of bone or soft tissue cancer).
 
He twice went into remission before his passing just months shy of his 16th birthday.
 
Noha's father Robert is the brother of Cullen and Mateo's mother Amy. The two families live near one another, spend holidays together and shared countless memories while Noha was growing up.
 
"He was my cousin, but to me, he was like my brother," Noha said of Cullen. "He definitely would have been in my wedding one day. That's how close we were."
 
"He never wanted to be known as the cancer kid," she continued. "He wanted to be known for the way he handled even the toughest moments and the impact he left on the lives around him. Even now, he'd wouldn't want me to hang my head. He'd want me to keep living my life. 'You get to cry once. Then you're done and you have to keep going.' That's what he always said, and that's the way he lived his own life. His example is an inspiration to me."
 
Noha – whose team (9-2 MIAC, 18-6 overall) begins defense of its MIAC playoff title when the third-seeded Bennies play host to No. 6 seed Augsburg (5-6, 11-18) in the conference quarterfinals at 7 p.m. Tuesday (Nov. 11) at Claire Lynch Hall – also honored her cousin by taking part in the cancer awareness initiative mounted by the CSB Student-Athlete Advisory Committee this fall.
 
That was highlighted by an All-Cancer Awareness Night when CSB beat Bethel 3-0 (25-18, 25-19, 25-19) last Wednesday (Nov. 5) at Claire Lynch Hall.
 
"It was a very emotional night for me," said Noha, who contributed six digs to the winning effort. "There was a lot on my mind. I wanted to go out and play well for him."
 
She also continues to raise awareness and funds for Cully's Way, a group formed to provide support to kids going through the same battle Cullen did.
 
"It started off as Cully Strong when he was still with us, but now it's transformed into a way to raise money for cancer research and help in ways like that," Noha said. "The way I look at it is I get the chance to tell the world about him."
 
Through it all, Noha has continued to be a regular part of the CSB rotation, having seen action in 70 of 89 sets this season.
 
"She's been able to channel that grief into something bigger and I'm really proud of the way she continues to honor (Cullen)," CSB head coach Nicole Hess said. "We had some really hard conversations last spring and summer as she was going through all this. She's been really open about it, and I know it's really important to her to continue playing and finding ways to make it bigger than just herself."
 
That includes sharing her love of volleyball with others. The elementary education major hopes to one day pursue a career in coaching. She and junior teammate Libby Burns are already coaching a club team of players ranging in age from 12 to 18 through AVB in Sartell.
 
"That's helped change my own perspective as a player," Noha said. "When we first started last spring, I came back to Nicole and told her now I understood what she was talking about when she described what it's like to see a player take corrections you give them and apply it in the right way. It's a really great feeling to have that impact on someone else. It's made me a lot more grateful to the coaches I've had over the years."
 
"Coaching is a way to stay active in the game even when my playing career is done and that's something I really want to do," she continued. "I'm not ready to give this part of my life up yet."
 
That's why, despite having the chance to graduate early, Noha plans to return to CSB for the fall semester next year and play one more season of volleyball.
 
"I thought about it a lot, and I just couldn't imagine this being my final season here," she said. "There's so much I still want to accomplish."
 
Next up on that list is trying to help the Bennies earn an MIAC playoff title and secure the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III playoffs for the second year in a row. That starts with Tuesday's match with Augsburg, a team CSB beat 3-1 (25-20, 20-25, 25-23, 25-18) when the two teams met on Oct. 22 in Minneapolis.
 
"We know we can't take anything for granted," she said. "The MIAC has been crazy this year. On any given night, teams have been beating other teams they weren't expected to. You can't overlook any opponent or they'll come up and get you. "So all we're focused on now is Augsburg. We know we're going to have to play our very best if we want to win and move on."