Because volleyball is played indoors, it’s pretty tough to get rained out. Being rained in seems even more unlikely, but Northwestern has managed to do just that. This weekend, the Wildcats (6-4, 3-1 Big Ten) take on their toughest competition of the season, Ohio State and Penn State, in the fieldhouse behind the water-damaged main floor at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
The floor was damaged by flooding on Aug. 2, but the Cats played on it against Michigan and Michigan State in September because they use a different surface atop the basketball court. Renovations began this week, and so the team has moved its home for the time being.
Playing in a stadium – normally the practice court – with temporary bleachers to seat 800 is certainly a change from playing in Welsh-Ryan Arena and its 8,117 seats, the vast majority of them usually empty.
“(The fieldhouse is) a cozier atmosphere,” said freshman setter Drew Robertson, who is looking forward to playing in the smaller venue. “It will be the same number of fans, but a lot louder.”
If the Cats pull off wins this weekend, it will be worth getting loud – the Buckeyes (12-0, 4-0) are No. 11 in the nation and Penn State (9-2, 3-1) No. 10, its only conference loss coming against Ohio State last weekend. An NU upset over the Nittany Lions would be its second in two years – the Cats’ win over then-No. 3 Penn State was one of their two Big Ten victories in 2000.
But NU topped that mark this year with a two-game split on the road last weekend. After their first conference loss last Friday – a three-game sweep by Illinois – the Cats redeemed themselves with a victory over Indiana in Bloomington, Ind., last Saturday.
Tonight’s game against Ohio State may turn into a meeting of the freshmen phenoms. NU is led by Robertson and Ohio State has Stacey Gordon, a freshman outside hitter who has been named the Big Ten Player of the Week for the past two weeks.
While the Buckeyes are strong offensively with Gordon and senior outside hitter Anne Botica, they also boast a tough-as-nails defense that poses a threat for NU.
Coach Keylor Chan said the Cats will need to neutralize the Buckeyes’ defense with good serving and attacking to pull out a win.
Saturday’s matchup against Penn State should be a battle at the net – the Nittany Lions passed NU as the leading blocking team in the conference this week, and the two teams feature the top three blockers in the Big Ten. Penn State’s Cara Smith leads the conference in individual blocks, but NU’s Erika Lange and Sarah Ballog are close behind.
Ballog, a junior middle blocker, said she is looking for a lot of blocks this weekend, but has not been scouting hitters.
“You can’t concentrate too much on their side,” Ballog said. “You don’t want to lose sight of your own focus.”
The Cats have had an intense week following their split on the road last weekend.
“We had a pretty good week of practice,” Chan said. “We were getting a little tired so we cut practices a little short toward the end of the week trying to get ready for our next three.”
The Cats play No. 6 Wisconsin on Oct. 10.
But for this weekend, the Cats will look for strong outside hitting from sophomore Molly Kamp and junior Kelli Meyer – and Robertson has been connecting well with both at practice this week.
The Cats have been finishing their daily three-hour practices with an hour of intrasquad scrimmage, where Chan saw strong performances this week from Meyer, Lange and redshirt freshman Jill Buschur, who had a team-high 23 kills last weekend.
“I’m feeling pretty confident,” Robertson said. “If we play our best game, with a little luck, both teams are beatable.”
The Cats will put on their game faces on their practice court tonight and tomorrow at 7 p.m., rain or shine.
