NORTHWESTERN VOLLEYBALL: MATCH INFORMATION
DATE	OPPONENT	TIME	LOCATION	BROADCAST	LIVE STATS
Friday, Aug. 26	George Washington	1 p.m.	Memorial Gym (Charlottesville, Va.)	N/A	Gametracker
Saturday, Aug. 27	Buffalo	10 a.m.	Memorial Gym (Charlottesville, Va.)	N/A	Gametracker
Saturday, Aug. 27	Virginia	6 p.m.	Memorial Gym (Charlottesville, Va.)	N/A	Gametracker
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EVANSTON, Ill. – Northwestern begins the Shane Davis era on Friday with the 2016 season opener against George Washington at the Virginia Tournament. The year's first match will begin at 1 p.m. CT in Charlottesville, Va.

The four-team round-robin style tournament features two other matches: vs. Buffalo on Saturday at 10 a.m. and at Virginia at 7 p.m.

The Wildcats return six starters from last year's team and 12 letterwinners overall.

NU ERA
The Wildcats named Shane Davis head coach before the 2016 season. Davis previously was the men's volleyball coach at Loyola University for the last 12 years. He led the Ramblers to three straight national semifinals and back-to-back NCAA Championships in 2014 and 2015.

Davis brings with him Erin Virtue as associate head coach, Kevin Moore as an assistance coach, and Patrick Barry as a volunteer assistant. Virtue previously served as an assistant coach at Michigan for five years while Moore was the associate head coach of the women's team at Loyola. Barry was a volunteer assistant last year under Moore at Loyola.

TASHIMA TAKES THE HARDWARE
Taylor Tashima had a memorable sophomore season in 2015. She ranked fifth in the Big Ten with 10.89 assists per set and totaled 1,165 for the year. Tashima also had 92 kills, while hitting .319 and recorded 232 digs. She was awarded AVCA Honorable Mention All-North Region and Big Ten Honorable Mention for her efforts.

MILESTONE TRACKER
Junior Taylor Tashima has already cleared the 2,000-assist mark in her career, finishing her sophomore season with 2,036. She is just 72 assists away from cracking the top-ten in program history and at her current pace she could end up as high as fifth by the end of the season.

Kayla Morin enters her senior season as another all-around force for the Wildcats. She is the active leader on the team with 839 kills, 773 digs, and 160 blocks. If she continues her pace, she could crack the thousand mark for kills and digs this season. That would make her only the ninth player in program history to eclipse both 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs.

SYMONE SLAM
Symone Abbott returns to the Wildcats in 2016 as their most lethal offensive option. She racked up 387 kills last season on an impressive rate of 3.62 kills per set and her career rate of 3.39 kills per set ranks fourth all time in program history. Abbott is on pace to eclipse the 1,000-kill mark for her career this season and would be the 22nd Wildcat in program history to do so. With a strong 2016, Abbott could potentially post a top-ten single-season kills per set rate with the benchmark at 3.83.

OFF TO A QUICK START
The Wildcats have enjoyed hot starts to the beginning of their seasons the past two years. In August and September of 2015, they were 10-4, while they were 12-1 in August and September of 2014. The Wildcats have finished above .500 in the months of August and September every year since 2008.

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New Era of Northwestern Volleyball Begins Friday

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Next Event

Players Mentioned

Symone Abbott

Kayla Morin

Taylor Tashima

Northwestern University Athletics

Northwestern University Athletics

New Era of Northwestern Volleyball Begins Friday

••••••

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Symone Abbott

Kayla Morin

Taylor Tashima

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