Tim Nollan’s first season in Evanston was one of experimentation. Junior Drew Wright, once listed on NU’s roster as an outside hitter, donned the libero jersey again as she had at times in high school. Then-graduate student Alexa Rousseau, who spent her career as a setter, took on a Swiss army knife-esque role where she was both a setter and a hitter. However, with an additional offseason under his belt, Nollan has had the time to recruit and adjust. Last season’s 5-23 finish is a record that many
would like to forget, and with it comes new additions who hope to instill a winning culture in Welsh-Ryan Arena.
Five new transfers and three first-years join the fray for the ‘Cats this year, looking to fill some big shoes. Among those departing are Rousseau, who finished fifth on NU’s career assists leaderboard over her five seasons with the ‘Cats. The middle blockers are perhaps the greatest loss for Nollan and co, however, with Sophia Summers finishing her year as a graduate transfer and Kennedy Hill nowhere to be seen on the Northwestern roster, despite another year of college eligibility. The latter was 11th in the Big Ten in blocks/set in 2024. That being said, a lot of change is coming to Evanston, with each position different from the last.
Outside and opposite hitters
Among players who were purely outside and opposite hitters in 2024, Northwestern had four who contributed significant kills. All are returning, including kills leader Buse Hazan, seniors Rylen Reid and Kathryn Randorf and junior Lily Wagner. Ava Pratt is also set to return after redshirting in her first-year season.
While these hitters were effective at times last season, the addition of Ayah Elnady will certainly add some additional kills to the team’s repertoire. The back-to-back All-Big 12 first team selection is likely to be the new kills leader for Tim Nollan and anchor Northwestern’s scoring efforts in 2025. Also new to Evanston is Campbell Paris, who consistently scored double-digit kills in her two seasons at South Carolina, including a 16-kill game against Alabama in November.
Rounding out this group is Bella Bullington, a first-year out of Marist High School. While this group of hitters is very deep, her high school resume is quite impressive, boasting all-state and all-American awards while leading her team to a state final. Fans shouldn’t be surprised if Bullington notches a few kills this season.
Middle blockers
Middle blocker was certainly a question mark for the Northwestern staff entering the offseason, and with it came some unique outlets to find a replacement. To start, softball fans may recognize the name Lauren Curry as a mainstay arm and utility bat. Well, this fall, she is trading an outdoor venue for an indoor one, joining the volleyball team as a middle blocker.
Three middle blockers were also added through the transfer portal and will likely be sharing a majority of the time at the position. Beste Ayhan spent parts of five seasons at three different schools, including UMBC, where she set the school’s single-season blocks record, and Bradley, where she continued to deliver blocks in 2024. Ayhan also comes to Northwestern with NCAA tournament experience, which should help to provide a veteran presence.
Bella Simkus was also added as a graduate transfer from Colorado. While it took until last season for Simkus to receive consistent playing time, she made the most of her opportunity, leading the Buffaloes in attacking percentage and having the second most kills among middle blockers. Gabrielle Gerry, the third middle blocker addition in the transfer portal, struggled to gain playing time on a solid South Carolina team in her first two seasons. The 6’5” Louisville-native has now come to Evanston in search of more consistent playing time. While this will be a crowded group competing for minutes, Gerry will look to emerge from the group as a reliable option at the net.
The final addition is first-year Kayla Kauffman, who will attempt to garner some playing time. But in a crowded roster full of veterans, this is likely to be a tall task. This doesn’t mean that she can’t blow everyone away to earn the job, but her competition has a combined 11 seasons on collegiate volleyball rosters.
Setters
The outlook of the setter position is a unique one for the ‘Cats as it currently stands. With many teams, there is typically one setter who accounts for 80% or more of the team’s total assists. In Northwestern’s case, they lost Rousseau, but she also accounted for about 55% of the team’s total assists last season. On top of this, two very capable veteran setters can step into a full-time role, without the hybrid positioning of Rousseau’s 2024 campaign.
After three seasons, one of which as a red-shirt, for Northwestern, Sienna Noordemeer has been named a team captain and is a prime candidate for assists. Now a graduate student, she averaged three assists/set last season and logged 73 total assists across 24 sets. She also logged 33 digs, averaging 1.38 per set.
Noordemeer’s competition for the starting setter job? Lauren Carter. The Denver transfer truly came into her own last season with Northwestern, notching 238 assists, an average of 3.35 per set, over 71 sets. This was alongside 103 digs, a 1.45 digs/set average. Carter also surpassed Noordemeer with high-octane plays at the service line with 10 service aces. This did, however, come with the downside of 29 service errors.
It’s unclear who will garner the majority of playing time at setter quite yet. While most teams do commit to one primary setter, there could be a more even split of time during non-conference play as the team begins to learn its identity and preferred positional rotations.
Libero & defensive specialists
Those who watched Northwestern volleyball last season won’t be in for very many surprises on the defensive end this season. Wright and Gigi Navarrete are competing for the libero jersey in summer practices, with the other likely to slot in as a defensive specialist. Wright was the go-to libero last season, but that could change depending on performance as the season approaches. It’s worth noting that the team roster has the DS tag removed from Navarrete, listing her just as a libero, while Wright’s position has changed from OH to L/OH.
First-year Lauren Dignan is the new addition at libero. The No. 26 player in California per Prep Dig, Dignan could play herself into some sets from Northwestern, but it will likely be hard to break into major playing time in an established position with two returners. Fans should expect Navarrete and Wright to be the first two options, but Dignan could certainly look to make her mark during low-stakes sets and earn more playing time.
With questions still circulating about the exact ways in which Tim Nollan will play his cards this season, fans will begin to find out on August 29, as the Wildcats will have three games in three consecutive days to start the season in La Jolla.
