Northwestern Returns Home to Host #3 Nebraska, Iowa

9/26/2018 10:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball

2018 NORTHWESTERN VOLLEYBALL
DATE	OPPONENT	TIME (CT)	LOCATION	WATCH	LISTEN	LIVE STATS
Friday, Sept. 28	#3 Nebraska	7 p.m.	Evanston, Ill. (Evanston Township HS)	BTN Plus	N/A	NUsports
Sunday, Sept. 30	Iowa	1 p.m.	Evanston, Ill. (Evanston Township HS)	BTN Plus	N/A	NUsports
Social: Twitter (@NUVBall and @NU_SportsLive) \| Instagram (@NUVBall) \| Facebook Northwestern Match Notes

EVANSTON, Ill. — Northwestern volleyball (10-4, 0-2 BIg Ten) is set to open its home slate with a pair of matches against #3 Nebraska (9/28) and Iowa (9/30). Both matches will be held at Evanston Township High School's historic Beardsley Gym.

Fans looking to purchase tickets for NU's first two home matches of the season can do so HERE.

News and notes...

THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME: Northwestern volleyball is in the midst of its 43rd season of intercollegiate competition ... The 'Cats will open their home slate with matches against No. 3 Nebraska (Sept. 28) and Iowa (Sept. 30).

WHO? WHAT!: The Wildcats are meeting up with Nebraska for the 14th time in school history and the ninth time in Big Ten competition ... The 'Cats will battle Iowa for the 75th time ... NU leads the all-time series, 43-30-1, including a 23-11 mark at home ... Northwestern is 10-4 in its last 14 matchups against the Hawkeyes.

CURRENT EVENTS: For the second-straight season, Northwestern started its season with a nonconference record of 10-2 ... The 'Cats dropped both of their first conference matchups, but forced both into extra sets, including a four-set matchup against No. 16 Purdue.

WHERE THEY RANK: Northwestern is fifth in the Big Ten in kills per set (13.82) and sixth in assists per set (12.90).

Sophomore Nia Robinson is fourth in the conference with her 4.14 kills per set clip.

YEAH, THAT'S A BIG NUMBER: Sophomore Alana Walker posted a hitting percentage of .900 in NU's win over Colgate on Aug. 31 ... She had nine kills on 10 swings with no errors ... The output was the second-best in Wildcat history, trailing only Kim Ludwig's .917 clip against Milwaukee on Sept. 17, 1994.

WHAT IS A 'YOUT?': The Northwestern squad is comprised of six first years, seven sophomores, four juniors, and no seniors.

That means that 13 out of 17 players on the team are underclassmen (76 percent). In the Big Ten, only Michigan State (12-of-15 players) surpasses Northwestern's clip — but the raw number of 13 are the most underclassmen on any single Big Ten roster.

RANKING RUMBLINGS: According to PrepVolleyball.com, Northwestern's Class of 2022 is the 18th-best recruiting class in the nation.

IS 300 WINS A LOT? IT SEEMS LIKE A LOT: The next Wildcat win will be the 300th-career victory for NU head coach Shane Davis, between both Loyola and Northwestern.

CAN YOU DIG IT?: Local product Michelle Lee (Naperville, Ill.) owns a 3.49 digs per set clip, good for third-best in the Big Ten among rookies.

WELL ABOVE AVERAGE: In two games of conference competition, first-year Ella Grbac has a kills per set average of 3.63, tied for the ninth-best in the Big Ten.

DOUBLE YOUR LUCK: Five different players have posted eight double-doubles, led by Kiara McNulty's four, most recently against Stephen F. Austin (Sept. 1).

PUNCTUATED EQUILIBRIUM: This is the third season under head coach Shane Davis, a two-time national champion head coach while helming the men's volleyball team at Loyola-Chicago. His .750 winning percentage with the Ramblers is the sixth-best in NCAA men's volleyball history among coaches with five or more seasons.

Davis brought with him the leadership of associate head coach Erin Virtue and assistant coach Kevin Moore — both of whom are also in their third seasons in their role.

HOME SWEET HOME: Northwestern will play its last four home matches at the new Welsh-Ryan Arena, starting with a 7 p.m. debut against Penn State on November 9. The Arena has undergone $110 million in renovations in order to deliver a world-class experience for student-athletes and fans alike.

In 2017 — and for the first half of the 2018 home schedule — Northwestern played its home matches at Evanston Township High School's historic Beardsley Gym.

BUT UNTIL THEN...: The Wildcats played their first 14 matches on the road until NU's contest against Nebraska at historic Beardsley Gym.