Volleyball Plays Three Matches at the Golden Eagle Invitational

EVANSTON, Ill. – After sweeping its three-match homestand to open the season, the Northwestern volleyball team heads to Cookeville, Tenn. to compete in the Golden Eagle invitational. The Wildcats will take on Tennessee Tech and Evansville on Friday, Sept. 2 before playing Western Carolina on Saturday, Sept. 3. Matches against Tennessee Tech and Western Carolina will start at 10:30 a.m. CT, while the Friday night matchup against Evansville starts at 5 p.m. CT. All three contests will be broadcast on ESPN+.

Northwestern began its 2022 season in dominant fashion last weekend, sweeping all three teams – Pacific, UTEP and Northeastern – in three sets at the Wildcats Classic. The ‘Cats were led by senior Temi Thomas-Ailara, who notched a weekend-high 30 kills (3.33 k/s). Shortly behind was Hanna Lesiak, who added 26 kills of her own (2.89 k/s). Alexa Rousseau earned 83 assists (9.22 a/s) as the primary setter, while Megan Miller received a team-high 29 digs (3.22 d/s).

NU is 3-0 to begin a season for the first time since 2015 and is one of two Big Ten teams (Nebraska) to begin this year without dropping a set. In last weekend’s finale against Northeastern, the Wildcats hit .500, recording the fourth-highest hitting percentage in program history (highest under the current rally-scoring format). It’s the highest percentage since NU logged a program-best .689 mark in a win over Towson nearly 24 years ago (Sept. 18, 1998).

‘Cat Facts

– Northwestern is tied with Maryland for the top hitting percentage in the Big Ten at .314.

– Thomas-Ailara’s 1,074 career kills ranks second in the Big Ten among active student-athletes.

– Miller is 49 digs from reaching 1,000 for her career.

All three opponents at the Golden…