MARQUETTE, Mich. - Coming from California, senior Caylie Barlage will continue her final season with the Wildcats as the team faces Parkside in the GLIAC Quarterfinals on Wednesday, November 20 in Vandament Arena at 6 p.m.

Barlage initially chose NMU because she was looking for somewhere different than her home. Once she visited Marquette, she knew Northern was her home because of the sense of belonging she experienced, "The girls that I met welcomed me with open arms and talked to me not like I was just a 'little recruit' but like an actual person, where other teams hadn't."

Barlage has been a key player for NMU during all four years as a Wildcat. Her freshman year she led the team with 52 service aces, and continued this into her sophomore year as she led the team in service aces for a second year in a row with 54. During her junior year, she had a career high of six service aces in a match against LSSU. 

After graduating, her plans include going to, "Grad school and I am looking to get a GA position to try and coach volleyball." She is studying Sports Science at Northern and will continue with this career pursuit in Graduate school. 

Looking back on her time, Barlage reminisced on some of her favorite memories with her team. One notable memory she mentioned was the bus rides she and her team would take to and from away games. "[During the] bus rides, we'd randomly all wake up at the same time.. ?It would be the most random thing we'd all take a nap and then we'd all wake up at the same time and start talking and joking around with each other. We were right basically on the same schedule," explained Barlage. 

When asked what freshman year Caylie would think of her progress and where she is at now, Barlage responded by saying, "I think she'd be proud of the way I've matured. It's hard to put it into words, but just the way of maturing and changing. Truly all about the journey."