Tim Nollan’s first season in the Big Ten was an eye-opening one. After going 95-36 in his final five seasons at Grand Canyon (which included the program’s first NCAA Tournament berth), Nollan’s maiden voyage in Evanston concluded with a 5-23 record. Most of those losses came due to struggles in conference — Northwestern went 3-17 against Big Ten opponents, including a 0-9 mark in the Wildcats’ contests against ranked conference foes. Luckily for Nollan, he had a full offseason in 2025 and took full advantage
of it. Northwestern’s head coach coaxed five transfers and three first-years to Evanston for the 2025 campaign, putting together a roster he believes is ready to compete now. Here’s what Nollan, setter Sienna Noordermeer and transfer outside hitter Ayah Elnady had to say.
Note: These quotes have been edited for brevity and clarity.
Tim Nollan's opening statement: “Good morning. Just wanted to open up by saying how excited we are to be here again at the Big Ten media days. Looking forward to kicking off the 2025 season. It’ll be year two for me with the ‘Cats. Really, really excited about the upcoming year and the investment of the Big Ten in women’s volleyball and making sure that we put on the best product in the country.”
Nollan on the new additions: “First and foremost, just as a staff, we feel light years ahead of where we were last year. At this time last year, we had just finalized the roster. We spent most of May trying to have enough athletes to really compete in the Big Ten. So, this year, with a whole spring under our belt, training, the addition of the three freshmen and the five transfers, we feel like we have a roster put together to position us to have chances to win matches. From that perspective, it’s incredibly exciting going forward. We’re not just trying to patch holes. We feel like we can actually train and develop and really build a program that this university wants and deserves.”
Nollan on the program’s transition from Alexa Rousseau: “Alexa did a lot of things for us last year. She contributed incredibly throughout her career, but last year we asked her to both set and hit. Transitioning out of that is challenging. Whenever you have someone that’s been a staple in a program for so long, there are challenges that are presented. I think the thing that excites us about the future, especially just in the setting position, is we had an entire spring with two really gifted athletes in Sienna (Noordermeer) and Lauren Carter battling it out every day and working on their craft, but really rallying around each other and supporting each other, knowing that one of them, if not both of them is going to have some really big shoes to fill. Again, the spring training for us was really huge, just getting to work with our student-athletes and kind of laying some foundation and some groundwork that we can build upon.”
Sienna Noordermeer on her full return from injury (she played in just 13 matches last season after missing all of 2023): “I’m really excited for this season. We’ve been putting in a lot of great work in and out of the gym. As a team, diving into culture, but also working. Really excited to hit the ground running when the season starts and just waiting for that first preseason match. Excited to be on the court competing, and just excited for the season.
Noordermeer on her recovery process: “I was very appreciative of the volleyball community and how everyone embraced their arms around me through that time. It was definitely challenging and unexpected. But I’m fully healthy, I’m feeling really, really good, and I just am very appreciative for every opportunity to be on the court and to be able to compete and play a sport that I love.”
Ayah Elnady (First Team All-Big 12 at Kansas in 2024) on her decision to come to Northwestern: “Yeah, the decision to come to Northwestern was really easy. I feel like the school offers a lot of things that any student-athlete should be looking for. Obviously its academics, and the campus is beautiful, and we’re playing in the Big Ten, so it was a really easy decision. For the season, fans can expect me to just compete hard and give my best every time, and yeah, I’m so excited for the season.”
Nollan on what Elnady brings to the team: “Well, Ayah is just really special. Volleyball aside, she’s an incredible volleyball player, but as a human, she’s exactly the type of person Northwestern wants. As we went through the admittance process and having her do her interviews and things like that, everyone came back with how impressed they were with her as a human. Those are the type of people you want to rally around. Her having the ability to score three and a half, four points a set doesn’t hurt either. I think from us on the volleyball court, you’re certainly going to look for her to score points, front row and back row. But I love her approach to the game because she is just relentless in her attacking for the ball.”
Elnady on the tough schedule of the Big Ten: “We talked about it a little bit as a team. For the Big Ten, we’re going into every game as the underdog, obviously. We’ve seen that in the preseason poll. This is where the fun is because there’s no outside pressure. But within the team, we know we can beat great teams and we can do something. I feel like it’s just going to be really fun playing with no pressure, but knowing that we have a lot of goals.”
Noordermeer on the team being an underdog: “We’ve talked a lot about embracing the challenge, and it’s going to be hard every night. There’s no nights off and we are going to have to play our hardest every single night. That’s so exciting for us because it just pushes us day in and day out. And we’re going to use that as motivation every single day. Through double days when the season gets long, through travel. Just knowing that we have a fire under our butts and we’re going to compete hard every single time to surprise some teams and just showcase what we can. Because we have a lot of talent and we have a lot that we can do this year.”
Nollan on lessons from his first year in the Big Ten: “Well, the Big Ten, I’ve said it over and over today, I’m going to keep saying it, it’s the best league in the country. I think what really surprised me the most, though, was how much the other coaches care about the league and volleyball, not just their own programs. I think that was a good reminder to make sure that we’re trying to help grow the game. That’s my biggest takeaway, honestly, from year one. Volleyball is volleyball. The level is great, yes. The athletes are incredibly talented. But it’s still just volleyball. But seeing how driven the other head coaches were to really invest in the game, and invest in the sport, and help the next generation of coaches and really help the next generation of athletes was really special to me and something I do not take lightly.”
Nollan on recruiting high caliber players like Elnady to Northwestern: “It just excites me when a player of her caliber says it was an easy choice to make to come to Northwestern. I think, again, she’s an incredibly special human. Learning how to recruit to Northwestern is unique. We are different. We’re the No. 6 academic school in the country, period. We’re the smallest school in the Big Ten. We do have our own set of criteria and things that you’re going to go through and the type of athletes we’re going to look for. And I think the staff and I have done a good job of shrinking that list initially so we’re targeting the right people early. When I heard Ayah was going in the portal, I knew she was a no-brainer.”
Nollan on adding Lauren Curry from the softball team: “Well, Lauren is incredibly unique in the sense that she played four years of softball at Northwestern, was part of Big Ten Championship teams, was part of NCAA Tournament teams. She understands winning at the elite level, and to have her to be able to transition and play for us was an opportunity we couldn’t resist. She’s a unique player in that she’s a one-foot attacker. She can hit in the middle. She can hit on the right. She can hit the slide. She’s got an incredible arm. But having her leadership and guidance, as a player that’s had success in the Big Ten and had success in the NCAA Tournament, is something that I feel can really help our squad.”
Noordermeer on Curry’s impact: “She has been an incredible addition off the court as well. She brings such a passion and vibrance for the game, and I think it’s reminded all of us why we love volleyball so much. She’s been an automatic easy fit, so we’re so lucky to have her on the team.”
Nollan on building a strong culture in the Big Ten: “I think first and foremost, we have to keep investing in our student-athletes. Pouring into our student-athletes like Ayah and Sienna and helping them find the best volleyball players in themselves, helping them be successful in the classroom. Really investing in our student-athletes, that’s how we build our culture. With eight newcomers coming in, I feel like we did a lot of work in the winter and spring quarters with the returners to build a really strong foundation, so those eight newbies just slot in. They don’t get to come in and just do their own thing. They understand that this is how we prepare for practice. This is the timing schedule. This is how we will conduct ourselves on road trips. This is how we succeed in the classroom. Again, luckily, these eight players want to be here. They understand what Northwestern is. It’s not a shock that they have to go to class. We’re fortunate in that manner, but the work that the current returners put in in the winter and spring is going to pay huge dividends here in another couple weeks.”
Nollan on the impact of the House settlement: “Obviously, the settlement is kind of changing the landscape of college athletics. I think it allows us to invest in players and to help players showcase their talents and set them up for later. In terms of Northwestern and how we’re handling it, I think Northwestern supports it 100 percent. Northwestern supports revenue share, it’s participating in revenue share. I think we’re very fortunate to have a president and an athletic administration that understands the importance of athletics and how they can be an incredibly enriching thing for the general student body. College athletics, when they’re done right, adds to universities. It helps drive admissions. It helps drive national interest. It helps drive marketing. So the House settlement just allows us to go out and try and do that at the highest level.
Is it going to be different? Yes, it’s something we’re all kind of figuring out as we go. It’s new to everyone. Do I think it can be great? Yes. Do I think there’s going to be bumps in the road and things that no one thought of as we go along? Of course. That’s all part of the new, if you will. But I feel very fortunate that we have an administration that wants to support us, and wants this to be done the right way, and is trying to hire the experts and the people to surround us to make sure we can do this the very best it can be done.”
Noordermeer on how the team plans on handling long road trips (the Wildcats travel to New York, Texas and California twice): “First and foremost, it’s knowing that we’re there to take care of business. Like Tim talked about, we have standards about how we’re going to conduct ourselves and the work we’re going to do. At the end of the day, it is a business trip and we’re there to win, so that’s our focus. But then it’s about how do we continue to build our culture, lean on our culture, spend time with each other, make them enjoyable? We have a ton of fun with each other in the hotels, before and after games. I think leaning into those and making those memories along the way, and really just being able to do it with your best friends and doing it for a sport that you love, it doesn’t become work, and it becomes something that continually energizes you. I’m personally extremely excited for the California trips, but all of the travel trips, to be able to continue to build memories and take care of business on the way.”
Elnady on the team’s summer routine: “Right now in the summer, we have workouts at 5:45 a.m. I’m pretty sure it’s not like that everywhere, but with us — some people have classes and some people have internships, so this made the most sense. So we have workouts at 5:45 and then we have open gym after for like an hour, hour and a half, and then I have to go to class. Sienna has to go to her internship. Then I’m done with class at around 4:00 p.m., and then I’ll just go back home – sometimes I’ll go with Sienna again at night to get some extra reps, but that’s it.”
Noordermeer on the preseason routine: “With preseason starting up it becomes double days, so we’ll have a practice block in the morning with some lifts, and then we’ll do a little bit of a break, and then practice in the afternoon as well. We’re starting up a much heavier schedule of training, and once travel and games start, we have a pretty big morning block where we practice and lift, and then we go to classes and games after that.”
Noordermeer on maintaining physical and mental health as a student athlete: “That’s something that we’ve definitely prioritized. Being a student-athlete at Northwestern is not easy, and you have to lean into that. We have a lot of great support at Northwestern. It’s also leaning into your teammates, finding those people that you trust and love to go out and do something that you love doing. And just being honest with yourself and what you need to do. I like to think staying organized and on top of everything also really helps with that, so you can try and slot in time for yourself. But we’re definitely prioritizing working with our sports psychologist and all our sports staff so we can last through those really long seasons and come out of it really happy and healthy.”
Noordermeer on how she handles a game’s atmosphere: “I definitely do get nervous. It’s an excited nervous. I love playing the game and I want to play the best I can, and I love leaning into my teammates. When we all get hyped up together, it’s that first point or that first big block where we’re all just really excited and start to settle in and feel confident. I think the emotional side of volleyball is very underrated, but it’s so much fun, and it really does help us play our best when we’re in the right headspace.”
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