MUNCIE, Ind. - Northwestern volleyball (5-4) will conclude its non-conference schedule this weekend at the Ball State Tournament, where the Wildcats will take on the hosting Ball State Cardinals (8-1) on Thursday evening at 5 p.m. CT and the IU Indy Jaguars (4-6) on Friday evening at 5 p.m. CT. Thursday’s match will be streamed on ESPN+.
The ‘Cats took two of three matches last weekend in the Northwestern Invitational, picking up a pair of sweeps over Virginia Tech and LIU. Campbell Paris led the offense, finishing with 34 total kills on .354 hitting across the three matches. That included a career-high 20 kills in the finale against Green Bay, the first 20-kill match by a Wildcat this season.
Lauren Dignan also reached a career high against the Phoenix, grabbing 24 digs for her seventh straight double-digit performance and her eighth in nine games this season. Since she first donned the libero jersey this season at Georgetown, Dignan has averaged 4.23 digs per set.
Also recording double-digit digs against Green Bay was Ellie Stiernagle, who recorded her fifth double-double of the season with 47 assists and 16 digs, which was a career high. After racking up 48 assists against Butler last Tuesday - the most by a Wildcat in a single match since 2023, Stiernagle already ranks ninth in Northwestern program history for assists by a first-year, with over 300 through her first nine collegiate matches.
Ball State is coming off its first loss of non-conference play last time out, when the Cardinals were swept by Cincinnati on the road on Tuesday. Prior to that, Ball State had won 24 of 29 sets through its first eight matches, including four sweeps. Headed into this week’s matches, the Cardinals rank second in the nation in both assists per set (14.06) and digs per set (17.91) while ranking fifth in kills per set (14.72).
On Thursday, the ‘Cats will face an IU Indy squad that went 1-2 in San Antonio, Texas, last week. Following a win over East Texas A&M, the Jaguars dropped matches to Gonzaga and UTSA to drop to 4-6 on the season. They will take on Butler on Wednesday evening ahead of their meeting with the ‘Cats, then face off with the Cardinals in the Ball State Tournament’s final match on Saturday.
After this week’s matches, the ‘Cats will get ready for their Big Ten slate, which begins next Thursday at Welsh-Ryan Arena against No. 19 USC. First serve is set for 7 p.m. CT on B1G+.