A Mesa State College alumna who is a cancer survivor will return to campus on Thursday for a volleyball game that will raise money for the foundation she started. The annual Swing for Life Volleyball Game will be Thursday, Oct. 2, at 7:00pm in Brownson Arena. The Lady Mavs will face Colorado Christian University.

Proceeds from a jersey auction and raffle along with donations made at the gate will go to the Swing for Life Foundation, which was formed by Mesa State alumna Kathy Howa. Howa, who attended Mesa State from 1980 to 1982, played both volleyball and softball here.

She went on to become a teacher and coach of softball and volleyball at a private school in Salt Lake City. In 2002, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Months before she finished treatment, she was organizing a hit-a-thon with her softball team. Other Utah teams joined in and the first event raised more than $10,000 for cancer research. Since 2003, Swing for Life softball and volleyball events have raised more than $230,000.

The Swing for Life Foundation donates the money it raises to the Huntsman Cancer Foundation.