Couldn't ask for anything more

Jerry Wagner has been inside a lot of volleyball lockerrooms in his stellar career as a college volleyball coach. Once upon a time, he was even inside the Northern Montana College volleyball lockerroom - a long time ago.

But, when Wagner returned to MSU-Northern earlier this year, to take over as the Skylight's head coach, he found a much different lockerroom waiting for him, one vastly different from the one he spent time in at the Armory Gymnasium nearly three decades ago.

"I inherited a really great space," Wagner said of Northern's volleyball lockerroom. "It's a great lockerroom, it's got everything we need. It's a great home for our program."

The Northern lockerroom was renovated, thanks to a lot of hard work and generosity, back in the summer of 2016, as part of a great re-do that athletic programs underwent in that time frame.

The space was virtually gutted, then painted, and carpeted with the Northern crest in the middle of the floor. Custom lockers were installed on both sides of the main room, as well as a video screen mounted on the wall. There's also a smaller room at the entrance of the locker room that has a couch and more signage.

"I couldn't ask for anything more," Wagner, who has coached at NCAA Division I schools like the University of Montana, Gonzaga and most recently, UTEP, said. "They did a great job with this lockerroom. It's a really good space, a great place for our girls to spend time. It's got everything they need. It's got great lockers, we can access video here, and it's a great place for them to just sit and relax, too."

And that's key because, college athletes spend an extraordinary amount of time inside their lockerroom, and Wagner noted that, if it's a place the kids want to be, it's not only going to enhance their collegiate experience but also will enhance the team aspect, as well.

"Absolutely, to have a really nice home like this, it's huge for our team," he said. "We want to build a strong tradition here at home, and having a really nice space like this, it really helps. When you open that door and see what's inside, it's really nice, and it's big for our program to have something like this."

Wagner, a veteran of more than 30 years of coaching volleyball, did indeed come home to help build a Northern tradition in volleyball, and the time to start doing that in 2019 is rapidly approaching. Next week, the Skylights will hold all of their youth volleyball camps, while they officially report to training camp on Aug. 7, with two-a-day practices beginning Aug. 8. The Maroon/Gold game will kick off the season Aug. 14 with the Skylights then taking on Medicine Hat the following night, and that means, for a change, Northern will be at home a little more often than in years past early in the season.

"I felt we needed to be home more," Wagner said. "We want to develop a strong following here at home. The Armory is a great home court, and we want to be here playing in front of our fans more. So with the Maroon/Gold game, the Alumni game and the match against Medicine Hat, that's a start. And we'll go from there.

"I'm really excited to get started," he continued. "It's going to all happen really fast. It's almost here now, and I'm really excited."

That's right, Northern volleyball is almost here now. And when it does get here, thanks to the hard work and dedication of so many people, the 2019 Skylights have an awesome lockerroom to help them with their journey.