Northwestern volleyball (13-7, 3-5 B1G) returned home this weekend to beat the Michigan Wolverines (12-6, 2-5 B1G) 3-2 on Thursday night before losing 3-0 to Illinois (12-5, 7-1 B1G) Sunday afternoon. A sunny start to the weekend ended with chills in Evanston, as Northwestern continued to fight its way from the bottom half of the Big Ten.
‘Cats claw past Wolverines 3-2
Northwestern’s two-game home stand began with a showdown against the Wolverines, who were coming off a five-set victory over Iowa. The ‘Cats found themselves in a three-point
hole early in set one. First-year Northwestern hitter Bella Bullington earned three kills to tie the score at 10. The first set remained a tight affair from start to finish, but after senior hitter Buse Hazan scored four kills over the back half of the set, Northwestern won the period 25-23.
Bullington opened the second set with a kill that ricocheted to the rafters off the arms of Michigan libero Maddi Cuchran. Following a service ace from junior setter Sienna Nordermeer, Northwestern reached a 5-3 lead but was unable to retain its advantage. Down 14-11 halfway through the set, the ‘Cats went on a three-point run to even the scoreboard. Hazan finished that run with a kill, finally downing the ball which crossed the net 11 times. The senior then equaled her dominance from the first set with four kills, but her efforts were not enough as the Wolverines took set two 25-23.
Down 4-1 at the start of set three, first-year middle blocker Kayla Kauffman tried to breathe life back into Northwestern, scoring on two blocks against Michigan’s Lydia Johnson. Kauffman added a kill a couple plays later to tie the score 6-6. From there, the set consisted of runs. Michigan went 8-1 to make score 14-7 in its favor. The Wolverines, however, gave the lead away via five consecutive errors from Ella Demetrician. Northwestern went on a 9-2 run to then even the score at 16 apiece. The ‘Cats, who felt the absence of senior hitter Rylen Reid, only managed one more point that set (off an Ella Demetrician service error) to drop set three 25-17.
Entering a must-win fourth set, graduate hitter Ayah Elnady came to life. She scored five kills, a block and a service ace to keep the set close for Northwestern. And a close set it was, as neither side managed to extend the lead beyond three points. More than that, neither side went on a run of over three points during the entirety of set four. Tied 22-22, Michigan gifted Northwestern a set point with two attack errors. Elnady closed out the set 25-22 with a block to force set five.
Facing a set five which brought flashbacks to ‘Cats loss in Ann Arbor during the 2024 season finale, Northwestern looked prime to repeat in defeat. The squad went down 10-6, and, despite clawing back to an 11-9 scoreline, the ‘Cats were on the verge of disaster. Hazan finally decided that enough was enough, forcing four furious kills to take a 13-12 lead. On match point for the ‘Cats, Nordermeer fed the hot hand, as Hazan earned her 17th and final haymaker kill of the night to end the set 15-13, and the game 3-2.
Hazan tore through her previous season high in kills by eight and added six blocks to her performance. After leading the team the past few matches, Elnady earned 13 kills and a team-high nine digs. Despite winning, Northwestern trailed Michigan in every major statistical category: The ‘Cats had 18 fewer points, 15 fewer kills and eight fewer assists than the Wolverines.
Fighting Illini finish ‘Cats 3-0
Northwestern had earned its third conference home win on Thursday, but the Illini came to fight on Sunday. After scoring the game point in the Michigan match, Hazan picked up where she left off and earned a kill on the opening point for the ‘Cats. Senior setter Lauren Carter and Noordermeer combined for six early Northwestern assists to lift the Wildcats to a 13-11 lead. Illinois slammed the door in Northwestern’s face, going on a 7-1 run. The Illini did not give the lead back for the remainder of the set and took a 25-22 first set victory.
The ‘Cats had an early, if minimal, 5-4 lead in set two before Illinois went on a four-point run to take control of the set 8-5. Illinois’ Averie Hernandez powered her team’s early success with a pair of back-to-back service aces, a stat which would lead her team all afternoon. On Northwestern’s end, Hazan and Elnady each earned four kills while Bullington and junior hitter Campbell Paris procured a combined six kills. Despite these combined efforts, Illinois reached a 24-18 scoreline and eventually took a two-set lead with another 25-22 performance.
The third set was a heartbreaker. Illinois committed a number of unforced errors to give the Wildcats a 7-3 lead. The Illini then scored five unanswered to take back the advantage, which would not exceed three points for either side over the rest of the night. Elnady elicited another five kills, while Paris and Hazan had three each. The trio was poised to force a fourth set for the ‘Cats, earning a set point 24-23. Northwestern blocked three Illinois kill attempts, but Bullington’s response hit was rejected, and the Fighting Illini ended the match with three consecutive scores to douse any Wildcat hopes of a comeback with a 27-25 third set.
Elnady was back atop the ‘Cats’ charts with 12 scores and nine digs. Hazan tallied 10 kills and eight digs while Paris earned bronze in kills both nights with eight per match. She added seven total blocks over the weekend.
The ‘Cats face their toughest challenge of the season Friday at 6 p.m. in Lincoln, Nebraska against the No. 1 Cornhuskers. Nebraska is one of two undefeated teams remaining in the country and is the only squad to have passed 1500 points scored this season.
