Thunderwolves raise $834 for Orchard of Hope Foundation

The lady Thunderwolves volleyball team experienced some disappointment from their losses this past weekend.
In their last home tournament of the season the women lost three of the four matches against Ft. Lewis and three of the five matches against Mesa State College.

Volleyball coach Chris Jonson said he felt satisfied with the season overall, despite the weekend’s disappointments.

Everyone is calling this year the rebuilding year, Jonson said. This is the first year the girl’s have had me as a coach. This is our learning year. We are still trying to learn new things.

Jonson, who took over the volleyball head-coaching position this year, came to the university after serving as assistant-coach for three years at Metro State College.
Although Jonson said he was a little disappointed over some of the season’s losses, he said he was proud of his team.

These girls have worked too hard to have our season end so early, Jonson said. Now that the team has bonded to the new system we are in a position to really compete next year. We just have to stop some of the small errors we keep making.
Jonson said next year’s goals are to take the team to the next level and make them tough competition in their conference.

There were some major successes this weekend despite some minor disappointments.

Friday night’s game was dedicated to raising money in honor of breast cancer.
With an attendance of 250 people the university was able to raise $334 for the Orchard of Hope Foundation.

The foundation that was started in Canon City seven years ago, and it came to Pueblo in Oct. of 2005. The foundation provides financial assistance to cancer patients suffering from all types of cancer.

The money the organization gives helps patients not only with medical bills, but also with any other financial needs they may have. This includes personal bills, rent or any other need.

The funding program for Orchard of Hope began in Oct. of 2006 after their first walk for hope. Since then the foundation has funded 93 cancer patients.
Not only did the foundation receive the money raised by the university, but they also received a very special donation.

The honorary coach of Friday night’s game Carol Ratzlaff donated $500 to the foundation.

Ratzlaff was diagnosed with breast cancer last January and has been battling it for nearly a year. She worked for Parkview Medical Center and was nominated to be honorary coach by a contact she had there.
Ratzlaff and her husband donated the $500 in behalf of the Pueblo West High School volleyball team.
Her daughter, who is a player on the high school team, gave a presentation in honor of her for Breast Cancer Awareness month, and she was touched by it.

“I wanted to donate money to raise awareness with young girls and to give back to the community that has been so good to us,” Ratzlaff said.
“I like that this is a local organization that keeps all their funding in the local community.”

The Orchard of Hope Foundation raised a total of $834 from Friday night’s game.

Saturday night’s game against Mesa State was also a success. Fans were encouraged to attend the game dressed in costume and enter a costume contest.

Approximately 150 people attended the event, and four prizes were given out to the winners of the contest.

The first place winner was three-year-old Jacey Jonson, daughter of volleyball coach Chris Jonson. Jacey’s winning costume was the Itsy Bitsy Spider. She won a $50 gift certificate to Buffalo Wild Wings.
The second place winner went home with a $25 gift certificate to BWW was Kai Arriaga as Pocahontas.
There was a tie for third place between women’s basketball player Jonnie Draper as a cave woman and men’s soccer player Dave Winchell who was dressed as a giant banana. Each won a free, one-topping pizza from Little Caesars.

The Thunderwolves dance team also performed during the match break on Saturday night.

The Halloween-themed dance was done to the song Rama Lama Bang Bang by Rosin Murphy.

The dance was supposed to be like a skit, Coach Christie Cowan said.
The dancers were dressed in zombie costumes with Cowan dressed in a yellow detective trench-coat. The dance was a fun kick-off to Halloween.
Coach Jonson said he was happy to see the attendance and support at last weekend’s games. He said he hopes events like these will continue to attract people to the games, and he hopes to see more on-campus support in the future.

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