STARKVILLE, Miss. - Northwestern volleyball (1-2) is back in action this weekend as the ‘Cats prepare to take on Alabama (2-0) and Mississippi State (2-1) as part of the inaugural Allstate Big Ten/SEC Challenge. Northwestern will first face the Crimson Tide in a neutral site matchup at 2 p.m. on Thursday before taking on the hosting Bulldogs at 6 p.m. on Friday. Both matchups will be streamed on SEC Network+.
The ‘Cats got strong offensive performances from a trio of outside hitters during last weekend’s trip to Washington, D.C. Leading the bunch was junior Mara Štiglic, who reached double-digit kills in all three matches to open her Wildcat career. After racking up nearly 600 kills in her first two seasons at Utah State, Štiglic led Northwestern with 42 last weekend, including a team-high 17 in the opener. Also impressive was Bella Bullington, who opened her sophomore season with her first career double-double at George Mason, finishing with 13 kills and 11 digs. She also led the team in Sunday’s sweep of Georgetown, pacing the squad with 12 more kills in addition to nine digs, three aces and two blocks. Rounding out the group was Campbell Paris, who hit .296 with 35 kills across all three matches.
Setter Ellie Stiernagle kicked off her Northwestern career with back-to-back double-doubles against George Mason and American on Friday and Saturday, respectively. She tallied 38 assists and 10 digs in the opener, then one-upped herself with 43 assists and 12 digs the following afternoon. Her 111 assists last weekend were the most by a Northwestern first-year across their first three matches since 2018, when Kiara McNulty collected 138.
On defense, sophomore Lauren Dignan anchored the back row with 34 digs, including a team-high 15 in the sweep of Georgetown. At the net, first-year Maya Stillwell led the team in blocks in all three matches, finishing with 14 on the road trip.
Thursday’s match against Alabama will be the teams’ first meeting since 2003. Northwestern enters with a 2-1 record against the Crimson Tide, with all three previous meetings also taking place at neutral sites. Alabama is coming off a 2-0 opening weekend that saw the Crimson Tide defeat Samford and UC Riverside in Tuscaloosa, dropping only one set across the two matches.
Second up for the ‘Cats will be a 2-1 Mississippi State squad that defeated Georgia State and South Alabama before falling to Rice last weekend in Mobile, Ala. The Bulldogs and the Wildcats have met only once before, at a neutral site in 2001 where the ‘Cats came away victorious.
Following the trip to Starkville, Northwestern will return to Evanston for its first home matches of the 2026 campaign, beginning with a standalone match against Butler on Tuesday. First serve in Welsh-Ryan Arena is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT and action will be streamed on B1G+.