'Cats Head West to Visit No. 18 Washington and No. 12 Oregon

SEATTLE, Wash. - Northwestern volleyball (7-16, 0-12 B1G) heads west for the weekend as the ‘Cats get set to visit a pair of opponents in the Pacific Northwest. The Wildcats will play No. 18 Washington on Friday at 9 p.m. CT before taking on No. 12 Oregon at 8 p.m. CT on Sunday. Both matches will be streamed on B1G+.

The ‘Cats battled closely with both their opponents last weekend, falling in a pair of five-set matches to Illinois and Rutgers. Ellie Stiernagle racked up 91 assists across the matches, including 46 against the Scarlet Knights, which was her highest total in conference action this year. The performances boosted her to 812 assists on the season, making her the eighth Northwestern first-year in program history and the first since 2014 to record 800+ assists.

Bella Bullington also shone in the matches, collecting back-to-back double-doubles. With 18 kills and 10 digs at Illinois, then 19 kills and 10 digs against Rutgers, she tallied her second and third double-doubles of the year, joining her season-opening performance at George Mason (Aug. 28). Including those marks, the sophomore has totaled 268 kills and 111 digs this season. That includes a team-best 133 kills against conference opponents, against whom she’s averaging over three kills per set.

The No. 18 Washington Huskies have played to a 17-4 overall record and a 8-4 mark in Big Ten play. That includes back-to-back wins at home last weekend, where they defeated Iowa and Maryland in a pair of 3-1 victories. This will be the sixth all-time meeting between Northwestern and Washington and their third as conference foes. Washington has swept the all-time series, which started in 1980, including all three matches that have been played in Seattle.

The ‘Cats and the Ducks (19-3, 10-2 B1G) match up for the third time as conference foes and the seventh time overall. The all-time series is tied at three wins apiece after Northwestern came away victorious in their most recent meeting last September. Both Bullington and Campbell Paris reached double-digit kills in that match, and Kayla Kauffman recorded seven blocks. The Ducks are on a three-match win streak after they also downed Iowa and Maryland last weekend, and are set to host No. 1 Nebraska on Saturday before welcoming in Northwestern.

After wrapping up on the road, Northwestern will return to Welsh-Ryan Arena next weekend to host Iowa in the final home match of the 2026 season. Action is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. CT and will be streamed on B1G+.