MILWAUKEE, Wis. â€Â“ The Northern Michigan University volleyball team opened its 2004 spring exhibition season by playingat the Marquette Tournament this past Saturday (March 20).

NMU was previously scheduled to compete at UW-Green Bay onMarch 27, but that tournament had to be cancelled due to the UW-GB team havingmany injuries.

At the Marquette event the â€Â˜Cats defeated NCAA I WesternMichigan in the first round in three games (30-26, 23-30, 15-13) and thendefeated the Marquette University alumni team in two straight (30-16, 30-16). The second round saw the â€Â˜Cats down Southern Illinois, who was the winner ofpool three, 30-15 and 30-28.  NMU ended the event by defeating the host school, Marquette University, in three games (22-30, 30-23, 20-18).

NMU head coach Jim Moore said he was happy with theWildcatsâ€Â™ team effort and was especially happy with the teamâ€Â™s composure.  â€ÂœItwas very good to see how far our floor defense and blocking have come,â€Â Mooresaid.  â€ÂœI was excited that we served and passed well.  We still have a ways togo on offense, but it was a good start to the spring.â€Â

NMU will host Michigan Tech on Saturday, April 10 in amodified scrimmage at Vandament Arena.

â€ÂœOverall, this was a good weekend for us,â€Â Moore said.  â€ÂœTheteam gave a tremendous effort and worked very hard.  It was good to be back onthe court again and you can tell by our play that there is a goal in mind.â€Â