When the men’s volleyball team is described as “student run,” it doesn’t mean they run practices while the coach supervises, the team’s players really do make the decisions for the program.

Specifically, sophomores Sawyer Nennig, Pierce Moriarty, Alex Jelacic and Joey Gesteland, as they are the lead decision-making force.

“Everything from running practices to setting up tournaments for our team is done by us,” Moriarty said.

The team can’t play in these tournaments for free, however, and funding is needed from somewhere. Moriarty said this is where the university steps in and helps fund more competition-oriented costs, such as joining conferences and paying entry fees.

While Eau Claire covers these expenses, the student-specific costs are paid for individually.

“We get dues from players to pay for jerseys, hotels and other things that are centered around us, not the program,” Moriarty said.

Jelacic elaborated more on the accomplishments of the team and said the team has been top-10 in the nation for the past three years, and was once ranked No. 1.

“At nationals we finished tied for eighth the past two years,” Jelacic said.

The team plays in two conferences: The Northern Intercollegiate Volleyball Conference (NIVC) and the Wisconsin Volleyball Conference (WVC.)

Jelacic said the team has found great success at the conference level, having won the NIVC three years running.

Though the team is serious about winning, Jelacic said they try to have fun in what they do and invite new people to join.

“Over 50 percent of the guys on the team had never played volleyball before joining in college,” Jelacic said.

Some of these new recruits could turn out famous, like Tim Bomgren, an alumnus from Eau Claire. Bomgren and his brother Brian currently play professionally on the beach volleyball circuit.

The duo of Bomgren brothers took down Olympians and teammates Phil Dalhausser and Sean Rosenthal a couple years ago.

Aside from the claim to fame and the national rankings, Jelacic said the most important thing to him is his team.

“I have played volleyball for 11 years now, and as much as the game is fun to play, none of it matters if you don’t like the people you play with,” Jelacic said. “Fortunately, I get to hang out and compete with a great group of guys, so I’m thankful for that.”

The team opens play with a tournament at University of Minnesota this weekend, and will host their first home tournament of the season in December in McPhee Physical Education Center.