'Cats Host Trio of Opponents for Northwestern Invitational

EVANSTON, Ill. - Northwestern volleyball (3-3) will welcome three teams to Welsh-Ryan Arena this weekend as the ‘Cats play host to the Northwestern Invitational. First up for the Wildcats is Virginia Tech (3-2) at 7 p.m. on Friday, then LIU (0-5) at 7 p.m. Saturday and Green Bay (2-4) at 3 p.m. on Sunday. All matches will be streamed on B1G+.

The tournament will also feature neutral site matches; Green Bay and LIU will face off at 4 p.m. on Friday, Green Bay and Virginia Tech will meet at 4 p.m. on Saturday, and LIU and Virginia Tech will play at 11 a.m. on Sunday.

Northwestern opened its home season with a win on Tuesday when the ‘Cats beat Butler 3-1 at Welsh-Ryan. Bella Bullington led Northwestern’s attack, gathering a season-high 16 kills for her sixth double-digit match of the season. Mara Štiglic and Campbell Paris reached double figures as well, recording 12 and 13 kills respectively to make Tuesday the third match this season to see three Wildcats reach double digits. In the middle, first-year Maya Stillwell was lights-out. Her seven kills came on a .700 hitting percentage, ranking fourth in program history in a four-set match.

First-year setter Ellie Stiernagle continued to impress as well. Her 48 assists in the win over the Bulldogs were the most in a single match by a Wildcat since 2023, when Alexa Rousseau recorded 51 in a win over Rutgers. Stiernagle enters play this weekend with 246 assists this season, already good for tenth in program history among first-years. She currently ranks fifth in the Big Ten and 35th in the NCAA in assists per set, at 10.25.

In the back row, Lauren Dignan anchored the defense with 20 digs, which matched her career high. The sophomore has donned the libero jersey in each of the last four matches for the ‘Cats, and has collected 55 digs in that span. She sits at 74 on the season so far, the most by any Wildcat.

Northwestern is 3-1 all-time against Virginia Tech. The last meeting between the two teams was a four-set win for the ‘Cats in 2019 at the Miami (OH) Invite, and Northwestern also won the only previous meeting at Welsh-Ryan Arena, in 1997. The Hokies’ lone victory over the Wildcats came in 1995 in Blacksburg. Virginia Tech comes to Evanston after splitting a pair of matches last weekend at the Winthrop Invitational, falling to Winthrop before sweeping Old Dominion.

LIU is still in search of its first win in 2026, having won just a single set in five matches so far this season. Northwestern will be the fifth Big Ten team to face the Sharks this year after LIU was swept by Michigan, Michigan State and then-No. 25 Oregon. Most recently, LIU dropped a 3-1 match to Rutgers in Piscataway. The Wildcats have faced off with the Sharks just once before, in 2009 at home. The ‘Cats swept that match, holding the Sharks to 12 or fewer points in each of the three sets.

Green Bay is set for its third straight tournament to open the season, having visited Western Michigan and Tennessee Tech the last two weekends and come away with a 2-4 record to show for it. The Phoenix will search for their first win over the Wildcats; they’ve visited Welsh-Ryan Arena twice before and were swept on both occasions, in 2005 and 2014. 

Following this weekend, the ‘Cats head back on the road to close out their non-conference schedule at the Ball State Tournament in Muncie, Ind. The ‘Cats will face the hosting Cardinals next Thursday at 5 p.m. CT on ESPN+, then take on IU Indy in a neutral site match the following evening at the same time.