MARQUETTE, Mich. - After four years as a Wildcat, senior Julia Bouma will prepare to close out her collegiate volleyball career with the 2024 postseason here. Bouma has recorded 278 career digs and received GLIAC All-Academic Excellence Team Honors throughout her career. 

Some of Bouma's favorite memories with the team include their trips and being on the bus. One experience in specific that Bouma reflects on very fondly is when the team went to the NCAA Tournament in 2022. The senior reminisced about the time she and her roommate spent in the hotel room, "we stayed up all night watching movies, so that we could sleep the whole way home, on the sleeper bus."

After graduating, Bouma is looking forward to spending some time with her family. She plans to go back home to Grand Rapids, Michigan where she will work at a golf course over the summer and be on the hunt for a job that she can apply her freshly earned degree in Marketing. 

Bouma speaks very fondly about the journey she has gone through as a player, but also has a whole, "I'm proud of the person I have become throughout this whole thing. I feel like I really grew into my own person, and I have met so many great people here. I'm proud of who I am now, freshman year to senior year."

Bouma is one of five seniors that will graduate from the NMU Volleyball team after the 2024 season. Like the rest of the seniors, she is focused on finishing out her last season as strongly as possible, while making the most of her last practices and matches, with memories that will last a lifetime. 

The Wildcats will face Parkside in the GLIAC Quarterfinals match on Wednesday, November 20 at 6 p.m.