Julia Marr and Madison Merz are two great examples of not letting tough times get the best of you.

The pair of Western Michigan University senior volleyball players went through rough stretches at the start of the season, but have bounced back to have the best years of their four-year career. They helped the Broncos win the Mid-American Conference Tournament and qualify for the NCAA Tournament for the second straight year.

For Marr, a 6-foot, 2-inch outside hitter, it was overcoming knee injuries which happened during each of the 2023 and 2024 preseason practices.

For Merz, a 6-1 middle blocker, it was settling down and just having fun, like when the two from Cincinnati first met and played basketball together in the fourth grade.

"We played for two years and we were terrible," Merz said with a laugh. "We had fun with it, but that wasn't our sport."

They continue to prove that volleyball is their sport. Marr and Merz will see the court a lot on Thursday when WMU plays No. 4 seed Purdue in the first round in West Lafayette, Ind. The winner plays the winner of No. 5 BYU and Loyola Chicago on Friday.

Marr continues to wear a knee brace which looks like one an offensive lineman on the football team could wear. She decided not to have surgery either time she injured the knee.

"At first, I hated the brace," she said. "It was the worst thing in the world.

"I couldn't get comfortable; it was restricting my play."

During Western Michigan's run to the MAC championship last season, Marr played in just seven of 34 matches. This season, she's been in 28 of 32 matches, averaging 3.05 kills per set and making 44 total blocks. During her first three seasons at WMU, she had a total of 29 blocks.

"I had to have the mindset of wearing this brace is what I have to do in order to play," she said. "If not, I wouldn't have been able to jump.

"Thinking like that was a complete gamechanger."

What could have been a bad gamechanger came during the MAC Tournament in Bowling Green when a pad came off the brace and a strap went missing.

"Michael (Page, WMU volleyball trainer) ordered a new brace from the company to be overnighted and they sent it to his house, not the gym," Marr said. "I'm thinking, this is a disaster."
But they managed to find the pieces and superglue a pad back on.

"I just have a few more matches to go," she said.

"Julia knows the game and it's a matter of her body and mind catching up, and you are seeing the results in the last month and a half when she has taken off," head coach Colleen Munson said.

It's easy to see how Merz started then finished. At the beginning of this season, she couldn't crack WMU's starting lineup. By the end of the season, she was an All-MAC Second Team selection. After hitting just .205 as a sophomore, the senior hit .288 as a junior and crushed the ball at a .364 percentage this season. She added 66 blocks, easily the best of her career.

"At the start, I wasn't playing my best and I had an injury to my ab," she said. "It was tough, but I knew it was my last season and I had to put everything out there.

"With the help of the coaches and my teammates, I was able to channel that, put it all on the court and let go of the tension. I needed to play free and be myself and that has helped me have fun again."

A big turning point came in a non-conference match against James Madison, where Merz had 19 kills and hit an outstanding .457.

"The James Madison match gave me the confidence to say it works," Merz said. "I'm going to keep this mindset and if something goes wrong, I'm not going to let it get into my head and just play free.

"As a team, we changed to where if we get pushed, perfect, we're going to push back harder and that gives us the confidence to be better, even if something goes wrong."

Added Munson: "We wanted Madison to switch her mindset to what are you doing well vs. what you have to fix or change. Now, her reaction to the errors of the game has been remarkable."

For the past six years, Western Michigan has had a Cincinnati connection, starting with Maggie King who came to WMU in 2019. Setter Logan Case is finishing up her career this year along with Marr and Merz. Even before these four, the Broncos have had several successful players from Cincinnati.

"They know how hard it is to put everything together and be successful," Munson said. "They have seen the highs and lows."

In 2019, WMU didn't qualify for the MAC Tournament. In 2020, it lost in the finals, then in 2021, it lost in the semifinals. It didn't make it in 2022 before winning the tournament in 2023 and this season.

"It's now, one drill, one practice, one game at a time," Munson said about Thursday's competition.