'Cats Host Michigan, Travel to No. 12 Purdue in B1G Weekend of Action

EVANSTON, Ill. - Northwestern volleyball (7-12, 0-8 B1G) returns to action this Thursday as the ‘Cats prepare to host the Michigan Wolverines (12-7, 3-5 B1G) at 7 p.m. CT at Welsh-Ryan Arena on B1G+. Following the home match, the Wildcats will hit the road to visit No. 12 Purdue (11-6, 4-4 B1G) on Sunday, with first serve in that match scheduled for 3 p.m. CT on Big Ten Network.

Northwestern is coming off a close battle with then-No. 22 Michigan State last Sunday. Though they dropped the match 3-1, the ‘Cats came up just short in the third set, having led as late as 21-20 before the Spartans took over. Bella Bullington led the offense, collecting 13 kills for her 13th double-digit performance of the season. Mara Štiglic also came up big, tallying 12 kills to bring her total to a team-high 247 this season. That puts her fourth in the conference.

Ellie Stiernagle continued her impressive first-year campaign with 38 assists against the Spartans to go along with eight digs and two blocks. The setter enters play against Michigan with 666 assists this season, putting her sixth in the Big Ten overall and first in the conference among first-year setters.

The ‘Cats will face a 12-7 Michigan team coming off a victory over Illinois last weekend. The Wolverines took down the Illini in five sets for their third Big Ten win of the year, having also beat Iowa and USC. It will be the 84th meeting between the two programs, with Michigan leading the all-time series 52-31. The ‘Cats won the most recent installment last season in Evanston 3-2, the latest in a string of closely contested matches between the two teams. The last time either team swept the other was 2018, when then-No. 18 Michigan defeated Northwestern 3-0 in Ann Arbor, Mich.

On Sunday, Northwestern will visit No. 12 Purdue. The Boilermakers, who beat Iowa and fell to No. 1 Nebraska last weekend, will host No. 20 Minnesota on Friday night before welcoming in the ‘Cats on Sunday. Despite the loss last Saturday, Purdue became the first Big Ten team this season to take a set off the top-ranked Huskers. They were led by Addy Tindall, who had 16 kills in the match to improve her season average to 3.88 per set, which ranks fourth in the conference. Purdue leads the all-time series against Northwestern 64-29 after winning both of the last two contests.

After this weekend’s action concludes, Northwestern will prepare to travel to Champaign, Ill. next Thursday to take on rival Illinois. That match will be televised on Big Ten Network and is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. CT.