The Wildcats are in the win column heading into Big Ten play.
As Northwestern’s incoming freshmen celebrated the beginning of a new stage in their lives a mile to the south, the Wildcats’ volleyball team looked to celebrate the beginning of a new era of their own in victorious fashion.
Despite matching up against an NIU squad that boasted one of the better receiving defenses in the nation, Northwestern was able to find constant offensive success on Wednesday evening. The Wildcats earned their first win of the season (and the first of Tim Nollan’s tenure in Evanston) in a 3-0 sweep thanks to a .310 attacking percentage. Buse Hazan was brutally efficient with 12 kills and three blocks, while Alexa Rousseau controlled proceedings like a conductor with 17 assists, nine digs and seven kills. Defensively, the Wildcats tallied 12 blocks, with Kennedy Hill getting in on eight.
The first set was all Northwestern, with the Wildcats leaping out to 7-0 and 13-3 leads. Thanks to Hazan and Kathryn Randorf (who earned eight of Northwestern’s first 11 points), the visiting Huskies fell into a deep hole early. Despite the best efforts of Sarah Lezon and Nikolette Nedic, NIU could never claw back within seven points. Thanks to a scorching-hot .500 attacking percentage, the Wildcats cruised to a 25-16 first-set victory.
The second set was a much different story. Due to a couple of aces and attack errors, the Huskies were able to stay right with Northwestern, which held an 11-9 advantage mid-set. But then, disaster struck for NIU in the form of three consecutive attacking errors, allowing the Wildcats to build a five-point lead. The Huskies committed a whopping 11 errors in the second frame, including another trifecta late in the set that gave Northwestern set point. Despite a rougher time offensively in the second set, the Wildcats were still able to earn a comfortable 25-18 victory.
With their backs against the wall, NIU’s players needed to come out strong in the third set. But after going up 5-3, the Huskies crumbled once again, giving up eight straight Northwestern points. That streak saw three attack errors, an ace from Hazan, two kills from Rousseau, and a kill from Hill. The Wildcats pushed the lead all the way to 21-11 later in the set after three consecutive aces from Drew Wright (who set a new career high with four aces in the match). Northwestern eased off the gas from there, but still easily earned another 25-18 victory to close out the match in three sets.
After the sweep in Evanston, the Wildcats brought the brooms downstate to DeKalb, looking to end the home-and-home with another victory. NU did just that, tallying another sweep on Friday evening. The Wildcats had another efficient offensive outing, posting an attacking percentage of .291 and notching 44 assists on 45 kills. Rousseau led the way with 12 kills (her highest total since November of 2021) and 21 assists, while Hazan chipped in 12 kills and an ace. Wright continued her success against the Huskies, adding 10 digs and another ace.
Much like the second set two days prior, the opening set of this affair was incredibly tight. After a Lauren Carter service error, NIU had cut the deficit to 11-10. But Northwestern had another run in it and rattled off six of the next seven points (four from the Huskies’ attack errors). NIU had one more opportunity after slicing the lead to 17-14, but the Wildcats simply had more gas in the tank. Northwestern scored eight of the set’s final 10 points, including two kills from Hazan and an ace from Wright. When the dust settled, the Wildcats had taken the opening set in a 25-16 romp.
That momentum only continued for a brief period in the second set. Thanks to three Husky attack errors, Northwestern lept out to a 5-1 lead, but the margin wouldn’t last. NIU briefly tied the game at 6-6 after a great sequence from Ava Grevengoed, but couldn’t take over. The Huskies simply would not go away, pushing Northwestern to 16-15 after some sloppy defensive play. As if that wasn’t bad enough, three attack errors in quick succession from the Wildcats gave the home side a 21-20 lead. Northwestern fought back, but a service error from Sienna Noordermeer gave NIU a 24-23 lead. With the set at stake, Rousseau got a quick kill, and then Lily Wagner added back-to-back kills to end the frame. The Wildcats had escaped the second set with a 26-24 victory.
The third set was yet another back-and-forth battle. Once again, it was attack errors that gave Northwestern a boost, with consecutive Huskies misplays helping the visitors build an 11-7 lead. Two more errors sandwiching kills from Hazan and Sophia Summers helped the Wildcats build even more of a cushion, extending their lead to 17-11. After the lead was pushed to 20-12, NIU attempted a furious rally, scoring seven of the next nine points, but the Huskies’ hole was simply too deep. Hazan and Rousseau closed out the final set in style to earn a 25-21 victory.
After a big-time week, Northwestern goes right into the gauntlet of Big Ten play. The Wildcats play on the road against Maryland on Thursday evening and then welcome a fierce Wisconsin squad to Welsh-Ryan Arena on Saturday night. As conference play begins, Tim Nollan is hoping last week provides a strong foundation to build on for the rest of 2024.