Kelli Meyer starred in high school as a blocker and hitter, but for the past two years, the 6-foot-2 junior had started as Northwestern’s setter. Now position change No. 3 is in the works, one that has moved Meyer to a right-side hitting position while freshman Drew Robertson takes over the reigns as setter.
“During preseason it was a battle between Drew and me,” Meyer said. “She just outplayed me. I was upset at first, but she’s a great player.”
Rather than tuning out on the team, Meyer has found a new role. During a practice two days before the Cats’ first tournament of the year, she was hitting on the right side.
“It just clicked,” Meyer said.
Wildcats coach Keylor Chan agreed, and Meyer has been starting in the new spot ever since, adding flexibility to the Cats’ game plan.
“It’s going great,” Chan said. “We’re one of the only teams in the nation with two setters on the court. One just happens to be 6-foot-2 and can bang the ball.”
ROAD TO RECOVERY: NU has only one injured player, but she has had enough ailments of late to hamper an entire team.
Sophomore outside hitter Lindsay Pavlik was second on last year’s team in digs and third in kills. But this year, she has been plagued by a multitude of injuries. The problem started as arthritis in Pavlik’s fibula-tibia joint in her right leg. Surgeons fused the bones with a screw last February, a procedure that caused her to lose mobility in her ankle. To fix the new problem, one inch of Pavlik’s fibula was removed.
The saga continued when the bones grew back together this summer, forcing another surgery in August. Pavlik returned to the court, playing only in the back row in the Nike Pacific Invitational on Sept. 7-8, but she sprained her ankle in practice soon after. Now, tendinitis is slowing down the healing process in her ankle, but Pavlik remains optimistic.
“Right now I’m taking it day by day, taking it easy this week,” she said. “Hopefully I can kick into rehab harder next week. I hope to be 100 percent by the second swing of Big Tens.”
NU certainly misses Pavlik’s play and spirit, but coach Chan plans to petition to redshirt her for the year.
“We miss Lindsay’s attitude,” Chan said. “The team has really rallied around her injury, but we miss her on the court.”
HOME COURT ADVANTAGE: When the Cats traveled to Stockton, Calif., to compete in the Nike Pacific Invitational, junior Adriana Ruhl was playing at home in more ways than one.
Ruhl grew up in Stockton and knows the University of Pacific well — she even went to volleyball camp there when she was younger, and her father played golf for the Waves.
Also, the tournament games were played in the Alex Spanos Center, named for Ruhl’s grandfather, who also owns the San Diego Chargers.
“It was my first time on the court there in a game setting,” Ruhl said. “The best part of it was really having all of my friends and family there, and playing Pacific because they are a great team and we competed well against them.”
The Cats went 1-2 at the tournament, beating George Washington and losing to Pacific and Connecticut.
Playing at the Spanos Center and enjoying the hospitality of Ruhl’s family “made it an interesting trip,” according to Chan. “It’s good for the girls to see where the other girls grew up — it makes our team closer.”
