Northwestern volleyball (7-14, 0-10 B1G) took to the road a few days ago searching for its first victory in Big Ten play.
Instead, it came back to Evanston empty-handed and disappointed, this past weekend being a microcosm of its 2026 season thus far.
In a pair of losses to Michigan (13-8, 4-6 B1G) and No. 12 Purdue (13-6, 6-4 B1G), its block was completely exposed as one of its biggest flaws this season. In all six sets played, NU’s opponents hit above .300 while the ‘Cats failed to reach that mark
all weekend.
Two brutal sweeps to two beatable conference opponents, as a season that was supposed to be another step towards Northwestern’s breakthrough has become a dreadful slog.
Thursday, October 22, vs. Michigan
The Wolverines’ kills leader Ella Demetrician got to work on Thursday night, pacing her squad with 11 kills and nine digs en route to the victory. However, this night belonged to senior outside Sydney Schnichels, who seemed unstoppable against the ‘Cats: 10 kills, five digs and a ridiculous six service aces — a career-high.
On the other side, Mara Štiglic and Bella Bullington struggled to capitalize on their swings. Štiglic led the Wildcats with nine kills, while Bullington followed with eight, but neither hit above .150.
NU’s success was found by feeding its middles. Maya Stillwell found the floor seven times on .417 hitting while Kayla Kauffman was a perfect 2-for-2 running the slide with Ellie Stiernagle.
The first set inside Welsh-Ryan Arena felt like it sat on a tipping scale. Both teams pieced together dominant runs to start: Michigan found five unanswered scores to grab a 9-5 lead early, forcing a Northwestern timeout. Then, the Wildcats immediately outscored U-M 7-1 and secured a two-score lead they’d maintain heading into the media timeout.
This is where Schnichels began to make her presence felt.
After a first ball sideout for the Wolverines, Schnichels found back-to-back kills and a trio of service aces in a seven-point span, giving Michigan a 20-16 lead they’d never look back from. It took the first set, 25-18.
The former Minnesota Golden Gopher and second-year Wolverine continued to be the X-factor for Michigan in the second set, finding a pair of terminations that gave U-M the first real bit of separation early in the second set. A few moments later, she dropped in consecutive service aces for the second time in the contest, giving Michigan control of the set at a 9-5 lead.
NU seemed to have any sort of momentum it built snatched from underneath it this set. The personification of “one step forward, two steps back.” Back-to-back kills from Bullington brought Northwestern within a few points after the aces from Schnichels, but Ava Pratt’s service error halted its bid for the lead. A Demetrician attack error had the ‘Cats down one, 13-12, just before the first media timeout, but Cymarah Gordon’s termination on the first ball over in the following rally extinguished any questions being asked to the Wolverines. A combo block from Stillwell and Campbell Paris brought the purple & white into the red zone, and subsequently, some life into ‘Cats faithful’s lungs with the hope that it could mount a late comeback, but Gordon again shut the noise down with her third kill of the set. NU went down 25-21.
The second set proved to be the Wildcats’ best chance. Set three was a deflating 25-14 loss where Northwestern’s attack went uncharacteristically flat. NU hit a -.034 in the set with seven errors to its six kills and let this set slip away at the very beginning, yielding Michigan an 11-4 lead and an advantage too great to overcome. It was a set that characterized NU’s season: being overpowered by the talent and preparation of their opponents.
Sunday, October 25, at No. 12 Purdue
Bullington’s 12-kill performance — her 14th of the season — paired with nine from Paris on .412 hitting and Stiernagle’s sixth double-double of the year wasn’t nearly enough to stop the wall Purdue presented the ‘Cats on Sunday. The Boilermakers out-blocked the Wildcats 7-2, an effort spearheaded by Grace Heaney, who assisted on five of those seven, adding on 10 kills and nine digs.
Kate Hansen headlined for the Boilers, going seven-for-eight on her swings in the contest.
Again, Northwestern started strong, but gassed out towards the end. The first set was an intense battle, but the difference was a Northwestern service error and a Ryan McAleer service ace in the middle of the set, bringing the score to 10-7 in favor of Purdue. It kept pace with NU from there and found the next gear with a 3-0 run to close the set — a service error, a kill and an ace in succession — to win the first 25-20.
The second set of this game was Northwestern’s best effort over the course of the last weekend and, arguably, their best set of conference play. Paris and Gabrielle Gerry, who finished with a season-high six kills, were responsible for getting the ‘Cats out to a 2-0 lead immediately. Northwestern held the lead through the early part of the set, then a Stillwell attack error put Purdue on top through the middle portion of set two. Gerry had a huge termination to tie things up at 18, then combined with Stiernagle to put the Wildcats up one. The teams traded the lead through the end of the set, but the Boilermakers found the resolve to pull out the win by taking four of the last 5 points in a 25-22 win.
The third set was a story that was told by efficiency. Northwestern hit an “a-okay” .207. Purdue hit a blistering .433. A major reason that Northwestern’s 5-2 lead vanished in mere moments. The score became 8-7 Boilermakers, and the lead was never in jeopardy. A 5-1 run was the tip of the iceberg to an ending that left all of the Wildcats’ faithful with their heads down. Purdue sprinted to a 25-15 win to close things out in Holloway Gymnasium.
The search for a conference victory will continue in Champaign on Thursday, October 29, against Illinois before NU returns home for a Halloween night tilt against Rutgers. The Land of Lincoln matchup will be streamed on the Big Ten Network, while Saturday’s contest will be available on Big Ten Plus.
