The up-and-down rollercoaster ride continues for the ‘Cats in 2025.
The ladies in purple and white went out west to Los Angeles to take on two of the conference’s toughest: USC, coming in at No. 17 in the AVCA
Coaches Poll, and UCLA, a squad that hovered around the No. 25 mark for an extended period of time this season.
The ‘Cats fought valiantly in both matchups, taking the first set from the Trojans on Thursday night before dropping the next three and forcing the Bruins to an intensely contested fifth set two days later. The losses drop NU to 12th in the Big Ten, now tied with Oregon and Washington, the former being a team it defeated in five sets earlier this season, the ladder being a conference foe they’ll have their first encounter with this Sunday.
@ No. 17 USC on Nov. 6
Tim Nollan and Co. were seeking greater fortunes against their sixth ranked opponent of 2025, coming into the contest 0-5 against previous teams in the nation’s top 25.
A screaming middle attack by Leah Ford opening the night’s proceedings initially seemed to spell disaster for NU, and that was further exacerbated by a 5-0 run soon after to give USC a 7-3 lead early in the first set. However, a serivce error by London Wijay took her Trojans out of their early groove and stopped the run.
The two teams traded the next six points thereafter to make the score 10-6, from which point Northwestern reaped the benefits of multiple USC errors that cut the lead to one. Rylen Reid would account for five of Northwestern’s next six kills as it pulled in front and never looked back.
NU went on to win the first set 25-22, never trailing again in the set after taking a 16-15 lead.
Rectifying her first set mistakes, Wijay got USC on the board to open set two, which Bella Bullington responded to the very next point. NU took a brief 3-1 advantage, but its lead would disintegrate as the set became a tug-of-war in its early stages.
Once again, USC found itself riding the wave of a 5-0 run before taking itself out of rhythm with a service error, with Gala Trubint at fault in this instance.
Southern California maintained its three point cushion before adding four to its lead down the stretch, courtesy of Reid’s bad serve, followed by two attack errors from Ayah Elnady and a kill from Reese Messer.
Moments later, Northwestern suddenly found itself in a eight point hole, down 21-13 with no visible signs of life. Campbell Paris would then provide a spark for NU from the right-side pin to start an 8-2 run, cutting the Trojans’ lead to two.
USC staved off the rally to draw even at one set apiece. Senior middle blocker Rylie McGinest put the set away for Southern California with back-to-back kills.
Abigail Mullen seeked out a third straight set-opening point for USC, but Elnady and Bella Simkus put a stop to the trend, drawing first blood for the ‘Cats with the block. Elnady pushed the Northwestern lead to 4-1 with back-to-back service aces, but consistent with the theme of this contest, USC fought back to make the early goings of set three a dogfight before yet another 5-0 run.
After 3 early lead changes, Southern California quickly settled in to run away with set three, taking a 2-1 lead. The 25-16 win was USC’s largest margin of victory and marked the third time in its last four matches that the Trojans have won a set by at least nine points.
Set four was the most competitive of the night, as the largest lead of the set for either team was three points. Northwestern’s downfall was the mere fact that USC held the lead for most of the set, keeping the ‘Cats at arm’s length away to close it out, 25-23.
For the ‘Cats, Elnady finshed the night with a double-double 10 kills and 14 digs, while Reid and Bullington respectively finished with a team-high 13 kills.
@ UCLA on Nov. 8
Nobody would guess that this matchup would become the barn-burner that it ended up being after NU’s opening set loss, 25-18, to the Bruins. The contest got underway with back-to-back errors from Elnady and Reid, followed by a Phekran Kong kill to give UCLA a 3-0 lead off the hop. The Bruins never trailed, leading by as many as nine in set one.
Set two looked to be more of the same with UCLA thrusting itself out to a 5-1 lead early, but Elnady took charge in leading the ‘Cats back into the contest. Also making contributions to the comeback effort was Buse Hazan, getting her first action since Oct. 26 against Indiana. She’d chip in a pair of kills to help cut the lead to two and force the Bruins to take a timeout.
The short break did nothing but incite the Wildcat fire to finish the battle on a 12-5 run, en route to a 25-20 second set win.
UCLA opened up set three by winning eight of the first nine points to propel itself in front. Kong and Maggie Li accounted for every Bruin kill during that stretch. The 25-14 loss for Northwestern was its worst since being defeated by the No. 1 Nebraska Cornhuskers on Oct. 24.
The ‘Cats bounced back in set four, clinching with Paris’ 10th kill of the night, sending the game to a decisive, winner-take-all fifth set that proved to be a war of attrition.
Gigi Navarrete’s service ace contributed to the ‘Cats newfound energy, but it would be temporarily stifled by a Paris attack error and a kill from Li to push UCLA ahead. Paris redeemed herself to even the score, but Marianna Singletary nullified the effort with a kill of her own right after.
After a continued back-and-forth battle, Brooklyn Briscoe and Kate Duffey combo block gave UCLA match point on the night, but first-year Kayla Kauffman came up huge for the ‘Cats by contributing to a block of her own to deny Li the game-winner. On the other side of the court, a Drew Wright dig, then a Lauren Carter set, finished off by a big swing from Hazan equaled a ‘Cats kill.
All of a sudden, NU had found itself with match point with a 15-14 lead.
The Bruins turned to the ol’ reliable Maggie Li to extend the game yet again, and she delivered her team-high 15th kill on the night. Hazan committed a fault during her next attack, but erased the mistake to keep the game alive.
The never-ending, late night marquee was finally put to bed with back-to-back kills from Cheridyn Leverette, pushing her total to 13, the second-highest for the Bruins.
NU fell victim to its flaws in the attack, hitting just .189 on the night. Hazan led the team off the bench with 18, followed by two of the team’s transfers in Elnady and Paris, ending the contest with 14 each.
The road ahead gets no easier for the squad, as the Wildcats will welcome in Iowa next this Thursday, Nov. 13 at 6 p.m. CT at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
If NU wants a bid to the dance in December, it’s going to need to find a resolve that the Evanston faithful haven’t seen since in 15 years — when it last made the NCAA Tournament.
