Fair weather fans take heed.

If you’re the type of sports fanatic who follows a team to the hilt (but only as long as they’re winning) then I’ve got just the team for you.

Introducing the NIU volleyball squad.

Not only are the Huskie spikers 13-3 and ranked 15th out of 110 teams in the Mideast Region by the NCAA Division I Volleyball Committee, but the Huskies are also amazing to watch.

Without knocking the NIU football team (as if they haven’t already taken one too many knocks on the field and in this column as it is), the volleyball team has been performing the same feats that appear to be missing from the football team’s game plan.

For instance, a clean spike delivered by 5-10 Wendy Mason from “quarterback” Shelby Snyder is just as thrilling as a well-executed pass play. (What, you missed those at the last football game?)

And give me a defensive tackle who would mess with one of 6-4 Kori Schauer’s earth-shattering kills and I’ll show you an NIU football team that makes it to a bowl game.

The fact is, not many people realize the intensity and power collegiate volleyball is capable of delivering. Volleyball is a game of finesse and the NIU Huskies are developing into a team that is executing that style well.

And bank on that to last—there is no last ditch effort to fill the roster with freshman—the freshman are just that good. A starting lineup of five freshmen led the Huskies to a North Star Conference co-championship and a 26-8 ledger last season while two juniors, six sophomores and four freshmen make up the team this season.

Need I say more? Well the list goes on.

The interest in volleyball is growing and growing fast. Over 3,000 fans made that evident Sunday when they showed up to watch the USA women’s volleyball team beat the 1992 Olympic-bound Japanese team at Chick Evans Field House.

The fact that the USA staff chose NIU as one of five stops in their fall tour of the Midwest says a lot for the program NIU’s four-year head coach Pete Waite (70-39) has built here. Not to mention that the USA staff was quoted as saying the DeKalb crowd was the best they’d seen.

So what are you waiting for? Check out the home schedule and get to a match. It’s a lot warmer in the fieldhouse than the “Doghouse,” there’s no hassle over school IDs, and the odds are a lot better that you’ll be witnessing an NIU victory.