MARQUETTE – The regular fall season is five months away, but the Northern Michigan University volleyball team has been getting in action before school lets out in a few weeks.

The Wildcats, who were 14-14 overall in the fall and 14-4 in GLIAC matches, wrapped up their set of spring exhibitions Saturday afternoon against conference rivals Michigan Tech and Lake Superior State along with a team of NMU alumni at Vandament Arena.

The atmosphere was informal, with no statistics being kept, though Northern did win two straight sets against LSSU and the Northern alumni while taking two out of three sets against the Tech.

This continued a good stretch of play by NMU during previous competitions starting in March, including winning several sets against NCAA Division I opponents in play downstate.

Wildcats head coach Dominic Yoder says the spring practices and exhibition games have been beneficial.

“In January and February, we spent so much time trying to really develop the players and just working with them and the ball,” he said. “For us to go get back into team practice in March and April and go play spring competition, it gives them the opportunity to really put things together and to play as a team and utilize some of the things they’ve been working on in January and February.”

Yoder was also pleased by what he saw and likes where his team is at as the semester comes to a close.

“We’re applying the things that we’ve worked on in practice,” he said. “They’re getting after it. They’re being really good and really meticulous about January and February, when we were working on individual things, and really applying them as a team right now.”

Michigan Tech head coach Matt Jennings said his team is just glad to get away from the monotony of playing against each other.

“We’re in the gym for spring season for so long against ourselves, so to get the opportunity to come out and play against somebody else is nice,” he said.

After an 11-16 season, the Huskies are hoping to get back on track this year and Jennings thinks that they have to ability to do so.

“We’ve been working hard since I’ve gotten here to kind of turn everything around, and so far so good,” he said. “We’ve got a long way to go, but I have a team here that’s bought into it, there’s no doubt about it, and they’re working hard for me, that’s for sure.”

Yoder thinks that both Tech and Northern being successful will be a benefit to both programs.

“It’s going to be good for us where both our teams are playing at a very high level because when teams come into the U.P., they already dislike coming to the U.P. to begin with, so for them to have to deal with two really strong programs, that’s going to be outstanding for all of us,” he said.

NMU opens up its fall season Sept. 3-5 by hosting the Wildcat Open against the Lakers, Cedarville (Ohio), Upper Iowa and Fort Hays State (Kansas).

Ryan Stieg can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 246. His email address is rstieg@miningjournal.net.