Northwestern
Seton Hall
Wildcats Wrap Up Non-Conference Slate at VCU Invitational
9/14/2017 6:03:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
| NORTHWESTERN VOLLEYBALL: MATCH DAY INFORMATION | |||||
| DATE | OPPONENT | TIME | LOCATION | BROADCAST | LIVE STATS |
| Friday, Sept. 15 | Seton Hall | 2:30 p.m. | E.J. Wade Arena at the Stuart C. Siegel Center Richmond, Va. |
N/A | Live Stats |
| Saturday, Sept. 16 | Bowling Green | 9:30 a.m. | E.J. Wade Arena at the Stuart C. Siegel Center Richmond, Va. |
N/A | Live Stats |
| Saturday, Sept. 16 | VCU | 6 p.m. | E.J. Wade Arena at the Stuart C. Siegel Center Richmond, Va. |
Atlantic-10 ($) | Live Stats |
| Social: Twitter (@NUVBall and @NU_SportsLive) | Instagram (@NUVBall) | Facebook Match Notes |
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EVANSTON, Ill. — Northwestern volleyball (8-1) seeks to continue their seven-match winning streak at the VCU Invitational on Friday and Saturday. The competitions mark the end of the non-conference slate for Chicago's Big Ten Team.
PRIOR RETURNS
Northwestern will be playing its first matches against both Seton Hall and VCU this weekend. The 'Cats have played four matches against Bowling Green and have gone 3-1, as Northwestern has found victory in the most recent three competitions. The Wildcats and the Falcons have not met since August 2012.
ABOUT SETON HALL
The Pirates, hailing from South Orange, New Jersey, have posted winning records in all three non-conference tournaments so far this season, most recently picking up two of three matches in Normal, Illinois, at the Redbird Classic. The Wildcats represent the second Big Ten team Seton Hall has faced this season, with the Pirates notching a 3-1 victory over Rutgers, Sept. 2. Their offense is run through Abby Thelen, who leads the BIG EAST in attacks per set (11.18) and points (170.5).
ABOUT BOWLING GREEN
The Falcons posted a 21-10 record a season ago, reaching the semifinals of the MAC Tournament, but have gone 3-5 to start this season, notching wins over Duquesne, Southeastern Louisiana, and Northern Kentucky. Kallie Seimet has been named the Mid-American Conference East Defensive Player of the Week for two-consecutive weeks, having tallied 20-plus digs in six of eight matches so far this season ... Northwestern will be playing Bowling Green in volleyball AND in football on the same day, so how about that.
ABOUT VCU
The Rams, like Northwestern, are riding a seven-match winning streak entering play on Friday. Virgina Commonwealth last droppoed a match on Sept. 1, dropping a 3-1 decision to Notre Dame. Alica Kandler leads the Rams offensively, tallying 115 kills through 42 sets.
IN THE LEAD
Northwestern has had the lead in attack percentage in all nine matches they have played in this season.
HIT ME WITH YOUR BEST SHOT
The 'Cats have been very efficient on firing away with their attacks, as their .303 team hitting percentage is 14th-best in the nation ... If you needed any reminder of how dominant the Big Ten is for volleyball, that mark is also seventh-best in the conference ... NU also ranks 11th in the nation in kills per set, which is fourth in the conference.
CHART TOPPERS
Symone Abbott leads the Big Ten with 137 kills while Nia Robinson ranks third with 123. Only one other player from the Big Ten ranks in the top-150 nationally for total kills.
Abbott is second in the Big Ten and 26th in the nation with 4.42 kills per set while Robinson is sixth in the conference and 84th in the nation with 3.84 kills per set. Northwestern is the only Big Ten team with two players in the top-100 nationally in kills per set.
SHE'S HAZEN A GREAT SEASON
Gabrielle Hazen's .464 hitting percentage is the 12th best mark in the country and sixth-best in the Big Ten. Hazen also is second in the Big Ten with 40 total blocks. Her 2.59 kills per set is the senior's highest average in her four years at Northwestern.
RUMINATIONS ON RANKINGS
First year Alana Walker's hitting percentage of .368 ranks 18th in the Big Ten and 92nd in the nation. Walker is second in the conference among first years in hitting percentage, trailing only Wisconsin's Dana Rettke. Walker is one of only nine first years in the nation to rank in the top-100 nationally in hitting percentage.
AT THE PACE SHE'S ON...
Senior Taylor Tashima is ranked tenth in the country and fourth in the Big Ten with 12.00 assists per set. That rate is the best of Tashima's career, and over one assist per set better than her highest average in her sophomore year. In addition, Tashima's 384 total assists is the 36th highest tally in the nation and the third in the Big Ten.
AN EYE ON THE RECORD BOOK
Symone Abbott (kills-10th, kills per set-3rd) and Taylor Tashima (assists-5th, assists per set-4th) both are poised to etch their names into Northwestern history with productive senior seasons.
In terms of rate stats, Abbott is 0.01 away from tying Erika Lange for the second-best career kills per set mark in program history, while Gabrielle Hazen has now moved into fourth place in career hitting-percentage, having just crossed the 1,000 TAs mark for qualification.
Abbott needs 44 kills to move into sole possesion of 9th place (Jessica Holloway, 1,396), while Tashima needs 330 assists to advance to 4th place in the record book.
FOR WHAT IT'S WORTH
When the Wildcats win three more matches, they will have surpassed their 2016 win total.
YOUTH MOVEMENT
Twelve out of the 18 members on the Wildcat squad are either first-years or sophomores (67 percent).
CURRENT EVENTS
The Big Ten Conference dominated the AVCA poll, with three teams in the top-10 and eight teams in the top-25.
IT'S A START
Nine of the 12 teams the Wildcats will play in their non-conference slate had records of .500 or better in 2016 ... That compares to only six of the 12 teams the 2016 'Cats played in non-conference finished with records at .500 or better ... NU has gone 8-1 through its first nine competitions.
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