2024 was a season of transition for Northwestern volleyball. With Tim Nollan coming in as the new head coach, the Wildcat program had to shift on the fly. But the change wasn’t easy, and Nollan had just over 200 days to work with between his hiring and the season opener. With a coaching staff and roster that weren’t completed until July and August, Northwestern stumbled out of the gate. The Wildcats took nine matches and 29 days to win their third match of the season.
In 2025, with a full offseason,
it took Nollan and company just three matches to reach that same total. The Wildcats ripped through the UC San Diego Invitational, dropping just two sets all weekend in wins over New Mexico State, Eastern Washington and the host University of California San Diego Tritons. Northwestern’s head coach brought in nine new faces, including five transfers, and the newest Wildcats quickly made an impact on the court.
Against New Mexico State, Northwestern raced out to a 25-13 Set 1 victory behind great aces and even greater defense. The Aggies hit -.103% in the first set and committed nine attacking errors, while the Wildcats committed just two. New Mexico State bounced back in the second set with a 25-22 victory, thanks to a late run that saw the Aggies score nine of the set’s final 12 points. But Northwestern would not relinquish the advantage, with an 8-3 run breaking open a tied third set. When middle blocker Bella Simkus placed a strong kill to clinch a 25-22 Set 3 victory, the writing was on the wall for the Wildcats’ opponents. Northwestern leapt out to a 13-4 lead in the final set and cruised to a 25-12 victory to clinch a 3-1 win in its season opener.
Aside from Simkus, the breakout star of the opening match was outside hitter Campbell Paris. The South Carolina transfer tallied a team-leading 13 kills on just 20 swings, as well as a pair of digs and an ace. Three-time All-Big 12 outside hitter Ayah Elnady (formerly at Kansas) was the focal point of the offense, garnering 10 kills, 12 digs and seven aces. The biggest impact the returners made was in the passing game — Lauren Carter and Sienna Noordermeer split setter duties and tallied 21 assists apiece. The Wildcats also dominated the service game, tallying 12 aces (albeit with 10 service errors) and allowing just two aces for New Mexico State (which committed eight service errors). As a team, Northwestern hit .300 and earned assists on all 48 of its kills, while holding the Aggies to just .143 hitting.
The good times kept rolling against Eastern Washington on Saturday morning. Once again, the Wildcats started hot, hitting a blistering .483 in the first set. Behind the hot hitting (and a 12-1 run), Northwestern breezed to a 25-11 Set 1 victory. The Eagles looked just as outmatched in the second set, falling behind 15-4 before recovering to lose by a score of 25-13. With the victory seemingly in hand, the Wildcats started the third set slowly, falling behind 6-3 early on. But a strong service run from Carter fueled a 9-1 run, and Northwestern was able to cruise to a 25-18 third-set victory to secure the Saturday sweep.
The offense was far more balanced on Saturday, with no player garnering more than seven kills. However, five players reached at least six kills, and the Wildcats hit a scorching .364 for the game. The biggest winner of the day was the defense — 10 players on the Northwestern roster recorded multiple digs, and Eastern Washington hit just .080 for the game. The Eagles also couldn’t find wins on the margins — they tallied just one ace and three blocks, compared to 12 and five in those departments for the ferocious Wildcat squad.
Northwestern’s weekend-ender against the host Tritons was by far its most dramatic match of the tournament. The first set saw four ties, yet despite trailing by five points on multiple occasions, the Wildcats clawed back. A brilliant Drew Wright service run resulted in a 5-0 run to give Northwestern a 19-17 advantage, which the team parlayed into a 25-21 opening set win. In the second set, the Wildcats nearly gave away a 19-15 lead, but a Rylen Reid kill flipped the momentum back to purple and helped fuel another 25-21 win. UC San Diego saw no point in getting swept in its own backyard, and hit at a match-high .256 in the third set — just enough to hold on for a 25-22 win. But that victory only delayed the inevitable — Northwestern raced out to a 6-1 lead in Set 4 behind another Wright run at the service line, and cruised to a 25-15 victory to seal an undefeated opening weekend.
Three Wildcats — Elnady, Reid and first-year Bella Bullington — had double-digit kills in the match. Reid led the way with a career-best 18 kills, also chipping in seven block assists and eight digs for good measure. Carter and Noordermeer again tallied 21 assists each, and Wright added four assists and a team-high 12 digs. Northwestern’s defense helped carry the day with 14.5 blocks and 48 digs, including a pair of combo blocks in the second set that helped preserve the lead. The team also tallied just seven receiving errors across all three matches combined, while tallying 31 aces to help push the lead.
After the unbeaten swing through San Diego, Northwestern will take a swing through another warm-weather college town this week. The Wildcats will travel to Waco, Texas for a road doubleheader with Baylor and Saint Mary’s College. Northwestern takes on the Bears this Thursday at 6 p.m. central time before battling the Gaels on Friday at 2:30 pm. If their hot hitting continues, Nollan’s squad will carry an unblemished record into their home opener against Valparaiso on September 9.
