Northwestern’s volleyball team can expect to find their weekend getting tougher and tougher and as they travel from one match to the next.
The Wildcats will have a warmup on Friday at lowly Iowa, and then they will need to bring their best against No. 21 Minnesota on Saturday as they jockey for position in the glut that is the middle of the Big Ten pack.
NU (8-7, 4-4 Big Ten) and Minnesota (10-6, 4-4), along with Michigan State, are currently tied for sixth place in the conference. Fifth-place Michigan is 5-3.
In the pivotal battle with the Golden Gophers, NU will have to account for senior setter Lindsey Berg, a two-time All Big Ten selection. Berg has led the conference in service aces for the last three seasons, so the Cats will have to overcome their biggest weakness — passing — in order to compete.
“It’s always about passing with us,” NU coach Keylor Chan said after the Cats’ victory over Purdue on Oct. 12. “We’ve been looking a lot better as far as ball control goes.”
The Cats continued their strong passing against Loyola on Tuesday night in a game that pushed their overall record back above the .500 mark.
NU has also been focusing on serving the last few weeks. Among the new NCAA rules put into action this season is a new method of scoring, known as rally scoring, which was previously used in the final game only if matches went to five games. Rally scoring makes it possible for teams to score points whether they are serving or not. This also makes missed serves far more costly, with teams losing a point and not just control of the serve.
The Cats were missing serves under pressure early in the season, which was hurting them in close games. Their serving has shown dramatic improvement in their last two matches — not only in consistency, but in toughness as well.
“Serving is a skill that’s entirely confidence,” Chan said. “As our kids feel more confident, it shows.”
Junior defensive specialist Cassie McKnight is the strongest behind the line for NU, serving up a topspin jump serve to the competition that averages 0.47 aces per game, seventh in the Big Ten.
Junior outside hitter Molly Kamp’s serve has also been impressive as of late — Purdue had a difficult time with her hard floater last Friday, and it got her five aces against Loyola on Tuesday.
Iowa (2-13, 0-8) remains winless in the Big Ten despite boasting the best hitter in the conference. Senior outside hitter Sara Meyermann leads the Big Ten in kills, averaging 5.24 per game. She is seventh in the nation.
Meyermann should be a good challenge for Cats’ blockers. NU leads the Big Ten in blocking, and is ranked 18th nationally.
Junior Sarah Ballog and sophomore Erika Lange, the Cats’ middle blockers, have been dominant at the net all season — Lange leads the Big Ten in blocks and Ballog is third.
The game against the Hawkeyes is the second of five consecutive road games for NU.
The weekend will conclude the Cats’ first round of Big Ten play — they start the second round against No. 11 Penn State on Oct. 26.
