Northwestern University Athletics
Freshmen Producing Strong One-Two Punch for Wildcats
10/23/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
| Northwestern (13-6, 3-5 B1G) vs. No. 13 Purdue (17-3, 7-1 B1G) |
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| Date | Time | October 24 | 7:00 p.m. CT |
| Location | Welsh-Ryan Arena | Evanston, Ill. |
| Live Stats | GameTracker |
| Watch Live | BTN Plus on BTN2GO |
| Social Media | @NUVball  | Northwestern Volleyball  | @nu_volleyball  |
| Notes (PDF) | Northwestern | Purdue |
| Northwestern (13-6, 3-5 B1G) vs. Indiana (12-8, 3-5 B1G) |
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| Date | Time | October 25 | 7:00 p.m. CT |
| Location | Welsh-Ryan Arena | Evanston, Ill. |
| Live Stats | GameTracker |
| Watch Live | BTN Plus on BTN2GO |
| Social Media | @NUVball | Northwestern Volleyball | @nu_volleyball |
| Notes (PDF) | Northwestern | Indiana |
Northwestern returns to Welsh-Ryan Arena this weekend to host Big Ten adversaries Purdue and Indiana on back-to-back nights. This week NUsports.com contributor Jasper Scherer caught up with a pair of Wildcats who are making a significant impact during their first season of collegiate competition.
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Jasper Scherer
NUsports.com Contributor
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Wilmette, Ill., is just down the street from Northwestern's Evanston campus, and the nearby New Trier Township High School is about a ten-minute drive from Welsh-Ryan Arena, the home of the Wildcats. But freshman setter Taylor Tashima didn't make her college decision based on the location of her hometown, nor her high school's proximity to the volleyball court she now calls home.
"It's definitely nice to see all my family at the home games," Tashima said. "But I mostly chose Northwestern because of the high academic standard and the chance to play in the Big Ten."
During the summer between her freshman and sophomore years of high school, Tashima went on all of her college visits and began narrowing down the choices, which also included Big Ten foes Michigan and Michigan State. Her decision to commit worked out favorably because she might not be setting for her classmate, outside hitter Symone Abbott, had it not been for one particular conversation.
"Taylor and I were good friends from the start," Abbott said. "I talked to her after one of my Northwestern visits, and she was the one that really got me to commit to the school."
It was the start of a partnership that's still in the beginning stages, but has already made life difficult for Northwestern opponents. The two have combined to win three Big Ten Freshman of the Week awards, with Abbott claiming the award twice, and they're tops in the conference among freshmen in assists per set (Tashima) and kills per set (Abbott).
The camaraderie between the two during games is bad news for the rest of the Big Ten, which will have to deal with that pair for three and a half more years.
"The fact that she's out there playing with me is amazing," Abbott said of Tashima. "And the fact that she's my setter is even better because that means we have to directly work together, and we work really well together. I've memorized the way she sets and I know how high her balls are, how fast they are, and I can adjust to it."
"I love setting for Symone," Tashima said. "She's such a great hitter that I know she can get the job done, so it's definitely the trust we have in each other. She knows I'll get the ball to her and I know she'll put it down."
The two freshmen make a good pairing outside of volleyball as well, which Abbott believes is reflected during games.
"We're really good friends off the court and we spend a lot of time together," Abbott said. "I'm just really happy she and I have the opportunity to compete together. It's good having another freshman with you out there because it's someone in the same position as you are, someone you can relate to and talk to."
As far as transitions go, Tashima and Abbott have been asked to adjust quickly to the rigorous and demanding nature of Big Ten volleyball, which has four of the NCAA's top 12 ranked teams, as of this week, and is widely regarded as one of college volleyball's best conferences.
Abbott's experience coming in consisted of her time playing for Northville (Mich.) High School and club teams, levels at which she expected to dominate and usually did. But going up against elite college programs each night forced her to play smarter and rely on more than just her sheer power.
"It was difficult at first because I was put into a starting position from the start, so I had to adjust from my club volleyball experience," Abbott said. "In club, usually the ones going to college stick out, but then in college, all those girls that stuck out are playing each other so everyone's more equally matched."
As she has gained experience, including five matches against opponents ranked 18th or better, Abbott's confidence has shot up, and her hitting efficiency has gone with it. She's also paying more attention to where her attacks go on the court, instead of how hard she can hit the ball.
"I have to think about where I'm swinging and make sure I'm being smart about where I'm hitting on the court," Abbott said. "It was rough at first, but it's feeling a lot smoother now because I feel like I'm just another college player playing with the rest of the girls."
Tashima, whose international experience includes captaining the 2013 USA Girls' Youth National Team to a silver medal at the World Championships in Thailand, took the new experience in stride.
"I love the responsibility. It's so much fun," she said. "I love being in high-pressure situations. In the Big Ten, if you're playing, you're expected to play like a senior."
Tashima developed that mentality in part through her time playing internationally for Team USA, and it has in turn helped her acclimate to a comparable environment.
"Oh, it's definitely helped a ton," she said. "International play is really similar to the Big Ten, just because of the pace and the strength of the girls you're facing. When you're playing internationally, you're playing against the best of the best, and that's just like the Big Ten."
Even if Abbott was still finding her footing during the season's first several matches, you wouldn't have noticed it by the way Northwestern performed. After dropping the first two sets during the season opener against Colorado in DeKalb, Ill., the Wildcats won 15 of their next 16 sets (including three straight to come back against the Buffaloes) during a five-match winning streak to open up the season.
Northwestern lost its next game to the then-15th ranked San Diego Toreros, but over the three following matches, Abbott showed that she just might have adjusted by then. The freshman outside hitter recorded double-digit kills in each game of the Wildcat Classic, helping Northwestern go undefeated in winning the annual home tournament.
Abbott's first Big Ten Freshman of the Week award soon followed, as did five more wins that pushed Northwestern's winning streak to eight games. But after the hot start -- 13 wins in 15 chances, the last of which was a straight-set win over No. 18 Minnesota in which Abbott accounted for 21 of Tashima's 49 assists -- the `Cats dropped four straight road matches, two of which came against No. 5 Penn State and No. 13 Nebraska on back-to-back Wednesday nights.
"I think we're going to push some people around and have a new play list where we're running different sets and speeding it up a little bit so we can beat the blockers and have a more offensive team," Abbott said. "And I think that going forward, some of the changes that we're making are going to help us a lot because we have a lot of talent and our players have a lot of athleticism. We just haven't really executed it all of the time."
By now, Tashima and Abbott realize it's partly on their shoulders to help Northwestern return to form. With the right mindset, a few adjustments and lots of hard work in practice, they believe it will come back together.
"You can be playing great volleyball, but everyone in the Big Ten is the best of the best," Tashima said. "You can never afford to have an off night. You can also be playing really hard and it still might not go your way."
On Friday, the Wildcats return to Welsh-Ryan Arena, where they're 8-1 this season, to face 13th-ranked Purdue. The freshmen each hope it'll be a first step back on the right track--and a step toward the ultimate goal.
"When you think Big Ten volleyball and start naming off teams that are at the top, I want Northwestern to be one of those teams," Abbott said.
"It's definitely winning a national championship; that's everyone's end goal," Tashima said. "But making the tournament comes first. Northwestern hasn't made the tournament for a couple years, so that's definitely a goal we have this year."
As much a team sport as any, volleyball requires each and every player on the court to be a part of a cohesive unit that works together in tandem. That means upperclassmen and veteran leaders like middle blocker Katie Dutchman, outside hitter Yewande Akanbi and defensive stalwarts Caroline Niedospial and Monica McGreal can only bring the team so far themselves. It'll be equally important for Northwestern's two freshmen to act and play like their age doesn't matter. So far, they've been up to the task.
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