The early non-conference season continues to bring a mixed bag for Northwestern (2-3). At one moment, it seems to thrive and have its way, and at others, it seems lost.
That’s exactly what the ‘Cats trip to Starkville looked like last week, handing Alabama (3-1) its first loss of the season before being dispatched by Mississippi State (4-1). These contests showed both sides of the coin when it comes to Wildcat volleyball.
Let’s not waste time. Here are your three major takeaways from the weekend.
- It’s Lauren Dignan’s time. She donned the libero jersey in both contests this week. That’s not to say Drew Wright or Gigi Navarette will be tossed aside, but its clear that Tim Nollan believes in who he’s recruited as the future of that position. 2025 was her year to learn the machine, 2026 is her year to take the wheel.
- The Mara Štiglic-Bella Bullington partnership is starting to settle into place. Štiglic led the team with 36 kills while Bullington followed with 26. The rapid growth of success for these two feels of utmost importance, Bullington basically undertaking Rylen Reid’s role in the system from a year ago and Štiglic learning the system in its entirety.
- Maya Stillwell and Hayley Schaaf have written their names in the no. 1 and no. 2 spots on the middle blocker depth chart. Stillwell provides the defense, Schaaf provides the offense. It’ll be difficult for Nollan to take them out the lineup, even as Gabrielle Gerry returns from injury.
With
that in mind, its time to aim the microscope at the Newell-Grissom Building to piece things together.
Thursday, Sep. 3 vs. Alabama
This contest was controlled by Northwestern after a slow first set and some tweaks. Štiglic rotated with Bullington in the back row and even played the right pin while Campbell Paris started on the left (a sight we haven’t really seen yet), and Schaaf was put into the contest as NU took to an offensive-focused lineup after a 25-16 defeat in set one.
The switch worked to perfection — the next two sets were dominated by the Wildcats and after eking out a tight fourth, they came out the victors, hitting an efficient .303 on the day.
There were zero answers for Štiglic, who came away with the first of her two season-high performances. 18 kills to lead all participants, with a quartet of service aces to boot.
Bullington’s 15 kills and three consecutive aces made this contest an all-out barrage from the ‘Cats. As a team, they’d combine for 10 of them, alongside eight blocks. Everything was working to perfection.
If there was one play that could characterize the success that Northwestern had, it’s this.
Friday, Sep. 4 vs. Mississippi State
Thursday saw everything going according to plan for NU. Friday was the complete opposite, as efficiency turned to inefficiency when its hitting percentage dipped nearly 100 points from the day previous.
The Bulldogs gained the momentum from the get-go with eight straight kills after the ‘Cats claimed the first point of the contest, forcing an early timeout. However, the hole was too deep for Northwestern to climb out of at that point, as nine errors ended up being its undoing in a 25-18 loss.
Set two, ironically, brought the best volleyball NU has played to date. It felt like every swing was bound to find some space in the back row. A .514 Wildcat hitting percentage buoyed them to a nine-point set two win.
Mississippi State began to turn it up from there, combining for 28 kills across the latter two sets of the contest to lock down the win, committing only four errors in the process. In comparison, the ‘Cats found as many errors as kills in set three and half as many in set four.
The Bow on It All
One step forward, one step back. Not a big deal at all, especially when considering how deep the SEC is.
Northwestern will run into these types of contests early on, especially as Bullington makes the transition from a full-time 6-rotational player, Stiernagle learns how to run the offense and Štiglic continues to learn who she’s around. With a lighter slate in the near future, the pieces should start to settle into place for the Wildcats.
Nollan and company open up the doors to Welsh-Ryan Arena for the first time in the 2026-27 academic year to welcome in Butler (5-1) on Tuesday, Sept. 8, at 7 p.m. CT. Live coverage will be streamed on Big Ten Plus (B1G+).
