A steady climb up, but yet to reach the mountaintop
Northwestern volleyball’s 2025 season was always going to be an inflection point.
After an abysmal 2024 campaign where the ‘Cats went 5-23 and had a 3-17 Big Ten record, head coach Tim Nollan knew his program needed a reset. He’d been with the team just one season, and considered the 2025 offseason imperative to ensuring the roster received a talent boost and was tailored to his liking.
“As a staff, we feel light years ahead of where we were last year,” Nollan said during Big Ten volleyball media day prior to the season. “We feel like we have a roster put together to position us to have chances to win matches.”
Was Nollan right? By most metrics, he was. NU dramatically improved its conference record and picked up four additional conference wins, finishing 17-15 and 7-13 in the Big Ten. No matter where the team started, tripling a win total from one year to another deserves immense praise and reflects the team’s successful effort to rebound from a lost season and prove itself as a formidable program.
Among several transfers recruited by Nollan, Ayah Elnady proved the most dominant. Hailing from Kansas where she was First Team All-Big 12 last year, Elnady replicated that prowess in Evanston. She finished as the team leader in kills and digs with 371 and 281 respectively, while also ranking among the top five in blocks and service aces. Elnady’s adeptness as a dual-threat player made her an impactful player at all times. Nollan said the reason he brought Elnady to NU was because of how relentless she was at attacking for the ball. She proved her coach right this season.
Another newcomer, first-year Kayla Kauffman, also started her collegiate career strong by crafting out a niche as the squad’s strongest defender, leading the team with 98 blocks. First-year Bella Bullington also impressed on the court with efficient offense that made her an integral part of NU’s attack.
While fresh faces helped catapult the team, experienced players also made dividends. Lauren Carter has only gotten better since transferring to Northwestern in 2023, and the senior’s growth and development culminated with with a team-high 744 assists and 49 aces — the most ever by a Wildcat in the rallying scoring era.
The ‘Cats entered 2025 with a fine-tuned and newly energized squad — one that was quickly apparent. After starting their prior season with six straight losses, the ‘Cats jumped out to a 3-0 start this year with a sweep in the UC San Diego Invitational. It was the start Northwestern needed, as NU had already established itself as a stronger team than last year before the calendar flipped to September.
It wasn’t the only sweep the ‘Cats would have at a non-conference tournament. An undefeated weekend at the Buffalo Classic, with two of the four wins being set sweeps of their own, drove NU’s record to 8-1. By comparison, at that point in the season a year prior, NU was 2-7. It was the exact time of resurgence the ‘Cats had been hoping for.
After splitting its two games at the Northwestern invitational, Northwestern held a 10-2 record and brought tremendous momentum to Big Ten play. But some of it was punctured as the ‘Cats reckoned with an increase in competition level that comes with being in a vaunted conference.
A 1-3 opening homestand saw an encouraging victory against Oregon followed by back-to-back losses to Michigan State and No. 10 Minnesota, although the ‘Cats were able to take a set in both defeats.
A similar pattern of two steps forward, one step back persisted throughout the following weeks. NU’s great performances and disappointing outings often fell in consecutive order, preventing the team from putting together a string of victories and grasping the momentum that had propelled them in conference play.
A sweep of Rutgers followed by loss to No. 19 Penn State exemplified that. So did back-to-back wins against Iowa and Maryland — the first time the ‘Cats had won two straight games in over a month — followed by a four game losing streak, including defeats in games against No. 17 USC, UCLA and a rematch against the Hawkeyes.
The most prominent example, however, came through two homes games in October. NU picked up a thrilling five set win over Michigan, led by a 17-kill outing from Buse Hazan and a resilience from a ’Cats team that clawed to victory from the jaws of defeat. It went down as arguably the ‘Cats biggest upset of the season.
However, what followed was being swept by Illinois. Nollan was not happy with the loss, as he claimed “the team got pushed around” and he didn’t “think our kids competed very well.”
Harsh words like those are sparsely used by Nollan, and illustrated his frustration with the team’s lack of consistency and disparate levels of play. His words may have had an impact though, as the ‘Cats took a rematch against Illinois 3-1 to close out their season with a victory.
Overall, NU’s 7-13 record placed them at 14th in the conference, two spots higher from 2024. Tangible improvement across all phases was the team’s goal this season, and the Wildcats achieved it. Not only did they finish with overall more wins then losses, but Northwestern was simply a more enjoyable team to watch this season. Big Ten games were far more competitive and exciting, and the ‘Cats could hang around even against stronger opponents.
While the talent gap between NU and the top teams is still wide, Northwestern certainly narrowed it this season with a revamped roster and newfound energy. This offseason will be equally as crucial, as the ‘Cats face the difficult task of looking to fill the void left by Elnady and Carter’s graduation. While the transfer portal will undoubtedly possess talent, NU must also call upon those in-house — including this year’s first-years — to elevate their game and take over the mantle as the new faces of the franchise.
Who that becomes remains to be seen, but there’s no doubt that a big summer awaits as Nollan’s program hopes to take another step forward.
Category: General Sports
