It seems as if more high school and college teams than ever participated in National Breast Cancer Awareness Month this October.

At The Williams School in New London, every team member which had a home game or meet on Oct. 12 wore pink T-shirts with their names and numbers on the back to school that day, generating such excitement that teachers and non-athletes asked where they could get shirts, too. It was the fourth annual “Play 4 the Cure” event at Williams.

And count Lyman Memorial’s Emily Vigue, a senior outside hitter for the volleyball team, as one of the top student champions of breast cancer awareness this fall.

Vigue, as her senior project for the school, began even before the school year ended last year with her work in getting sponsors to give money to the Bulldogs program for pink uniforms. As part of Lyman’s “Dig Pink” event, Vigue invited a spokesman from Windham Hospital to speak to the crowd about breast cancer awareness.

“It was a pretty special night,” Lyman Memorial coach Marty Gomez said this week. “It was a full house. The gym was packed. I’ve never seen that many people in the gym for volleyball. It had a real excitement and energy. There was pink all over the place. She covered every detail.”

Lyman, the eventual Eastern Connecticut Conference Small Division champion, topped Griswold that night 3-0.

Several other high school teams have participated in the breast cancer awareness initiative, as well, including Stonington’s field hockey team, which wore pink socks Tuesday as it clinched the ECC title. The teams at the Coast Guard Academy, including the football program, have also been active.

At Williams, the senior class held a fundraiser, selling hot dogs, drinks and snacks at the athletic complex during “Play 4 the Cure,” and donated part of the proceeds to the Susan G. Koman Foundation.

“Our boys’ varsity soccer team had an away game that day and they wore pink shirts, too, because they didn’t want to be left out,” Williams athletic director Scott Wagner said. “Williams is very service-oriented ... and this really helps the school spirit, as well, because everybody gets into it.”