Despite losing its first four conference games and sitting in last place in the Big Ten, Northwestern is not quite ready to be labeled as the underdog.
“A lot of teams think of us as underdogs because we haven’t won a lot,” senior libero Kate Nobilio said. “But I think a lot of other teams look at us as having a lot of potential, and we really do.”
The Wildcats will have a chance to prove their potential this weekend against Purdue and Indiana at Welsh-Ryan Arena in the third weekend of conference play.
“We still have to prove that we are capable of winning,” coach Keylor Chan said. “But I think that we are very capable of doing that in the Big Ten.”
The Cats (9-7, 0-4 Big Ten) fell to Michigan and Michigan State last weekend, but showed life against No. 23 Michigan State as they clinched their first set of the Big Ten season.
“After we played Michigan State, we learned that we have a lot of potential as a team and that we can play against some of the best teams,” Nobilio said. “But we have to play steady throughout the whole game, not just the beginning.”
Nobilio, along with junior setter Elyse Glab, finished the weekend with a new record. Nobilio picked up 22 digs on the weekend to help her total 1,905 career digs, making her the ninth player in Big Ten history to tally 1,900 career digs. Glab moved into fourth on NU’s all-time assist list with 2,875 career assists after capturing a combined 59 assists on the weekend.
“It’s something that, when we’re out of here, we might look back at and really appreciate,” Glab said. “But we don’t think about records on the court, it’s just about playing well and winning.”
Chan, who is one win away from notching his 150th career win, will implement some tactical changes in order to lock up the Cats’ first conference win of the season. The team will switch to a three-middle-hitter system in an attempt to revive the offense.
“It’s hard to defend against two quick hitters at the same time, so that will be good for us,” Glab said. “They also all feel more comfortable hitting the middle set.”
Chan said the change in strategy is not an attempt to overhaul the team’s system, but part of a series of small changes that he hopes will improve play.
“We’re just trying to see what some options might be for us to be more successful in Big Ten play,” Chan said. “We like the general platforms of what we’re doing, it’s just about refining things a little bit.”
The Cats will first test their new approach against Purdue on Saturday. The Boilermakers (9-6, 1-3) lost to NU’s second opponent of the weekend, Indiana, and Minnesota last week. On Sunday, the Cats will face Indiana (13-5, 2-2), which sits two spots above Purdue in the conference.
“We’re looking to find some ball control this weekend,” Chan said. “We can control things like serving and passing, so that’s what we’re going to have to do to win.”
