EVANSTON, Ill. - Northwestern volleyball (7-4, 0-0 B1G) opens its Big Ten schedule this weekend at home, hosting the No. 23 USC Trojans (6-4, 0-0 B1G) on Thursday evening and the UCLA Bruins (9-2, 0-0 B1G) on Saturday evening. Both matches will begin at 7 p.m. CT in Welsh-Ryan Arena and both will be streamed on B1G+.
Last week, the Wildcats closed out their non-conference schedule at Ball State, where they defeated the Cardinals 3-1 and swept the IU Indy Jaguars in a neutral-site meeting. Mara Štiglic had another huge offensive week, racking up a career-high 22 kills and 14 digs in the match against Ball State for her first double-double of the season. She added 15 more kills against IU Indy to finish the road trip with a 5.29 kills-per-set average. Her 3.88 kills per set on the season ranks fifth in the Big Ten and top 60 in the nation heading into conference action.
Ellie Stiernagle also had another stand-out performance last week, beginning with a career-best 55-assist showing against the Cardinals. It marked the most assists in a single match by a Wildcat since 2022. Stiernagle also chipped in 11 digs between the two matches and provided match point against Ball State with her ninth service ace of the season.
USC dropped to No. 23 from No. 19 in the AVCA Division I poll this week after going 2-1 last weekend at the Galen Center. The Trojans swept UC Santa Barbara and defeated UC Davis 3-1, but dropped a 3-0 match to Pepperdine in between. USC enters Big Ten play as the top blocking team in the conference, averaging 3.04 rejections per set. They have been led by Mia Tvrdy, who ranks ninth in the NCAA in blocks per set, at 1.56. The Trojans have won each of the previous three meetings with the Wildcats, including both contests since joining the Big Ten.
Next up for the ‘Cats will be UCLA, which swept the Lucky Aces Invitational last weekend to wrap up its non-conference slate. The Bruins swept Iowa State and Texas A&M Corpus Christi before defeating Hawai’i, 3-2. They will open their conference schedule against No. 18 Indiana on Thursday evening before making the trip to Evanston on Saturday. UCLA also holds a 3-0 record against Northwestern all time. Last season, the ‘Cats pushed the Bruins to the brink in Los Angeles, dropping a narrow 3-2 match after pushing the fifth set to extra points.
After this week’s matches, the ‘Cats will head north for a road test against No. 15 Minnesota next Thursday. First serve in Minneapolis is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT and action will be streamed on B1G+.