Michigan
Northwestern
10/20/2026 1:29:00 PM | Volleyball
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan volleyball team (12-7, 3-5 Big Ten) will travel to Evanston, Ill., to take on Northwestern at Welsh-Ryan Arena on Thursday (Oct. 22) at 7 p.m. CT before playing at No. 6-ranked Wisconsin at UW Field House on Sunday (Oct. 25) at noon CT. Thursday's match will be streamed on B1G+, while Sunday's will be broadcast live on FS1.
Notes
• Last week, Michigan went 1-1 on the road, earning a hard-fought five-set victory over Illinois on Sunday (Oct. 18), but falling to No. 20 Minnesota on Friday (Oct. 16) after taking the second set 25-20. The Wolverines hold a 3-5 Big Ten record and have split each of the last three weekends.
• More than halfway through the season, the Wolverine offense sits top-25 nationally in kills and assists per set, ranking 19th in the country in assists per set (12.99) and 23rd in kills per set (13.77). Both marks sit in the top five in the conference. The Wolverines have recorded 964 kills on a 0.260 hitting percentage.
• Sydney Schnichels put up a career-best 18 kills on a .519 hitting percentage to help lead the Maize and Blue to victory in Sunday's contest. In a weekend that also saw her face her former team, Schnichels added 10 digs across the matches, as well as four total blocks (one solo). She ranks third on the team with 156 kills and 16 aces in 2026.
• Ella Demetrician registered a career-high 16 digs on Friday against Minnesota to go alongside 13 kills for her team-leading seventh double-double. Demetrician leads the Big Ten with 288 kills while ranking third in kills per set with 4.11. Demetrician last faced Northwestern in 2025, where she recorded a 15-kill, 12-dig double-double.
• Morgan Burke guided the attack over the weekend, adding 47 assists in last week's matches to her team-leading total (458). Burke, one of 17 Wolverines all-time with more than 100 career aces (106), added four to her total -- with three coming against Minnesota. The senior fell just shy of a double-double in both matches, recording 17 digs across the weekend. Burke is less than 100 assists away from becoming the seventh Wolverine to reach 3,000 career assists.
• Meredith Martin leads the Big Ten in digs (288) and digs per set (4.11). Last week's matches added 32 digs to her total, moving Martin into the top 10 all-time for Michigan freshmen. She added seven assists and an ace during the weekend. The libero ranks third on the team with 76 assists and has contributed four kills and seven service aces in her freshman season.
• Cymarah Gordon recorded 25 kills over the weekend and has been a big factor in U-M's offensive success. She ranks sixth in the conference with 237 total kills and is second on the team behind Demetrician. Defensively, Gordon also places third on the squad in total blocks with 51, including her first solo block of the season in Sunday's contest.
• Jenna Hanes had a strong match on Sunday, with six kills and no errors on nine swings while adding six total blocks. The junior ranks second on the team with 55 blocks and leads the team in hitting percentage (.409) among players with at least 100 attempts. In her last match against Northwestern, Hanes totaled nine kills on a 0.643 hitting percentage with three blocks.
• Ece Senyapici has helped anchor the Wolverines defensively all season and added six total blocks in last weekend's contests, including three solo blocks. She is the Wolverines' leading blocker this season and is tied for fifth in the Big Ten with 73 total blocks. Senyapici has added 62 kills on a .236 hitting percentage, having played in every set after not seeing action last year.
• Northwestern is looking for its first Big Ten win, having gone 0-8 in conference action thus far, with five of those losses coming to ranked opponents. The Wildcats are 7-12 overall, with three of their wins coming at home. Michigan leads the all-time series against Northwestern 52-31 and has won eight of the last 10, but lost in five sets last year.
• Wisconsin has gone 13-5 so far this season, including a perfect 7-0 record at home. The Badgers have lost only one conference game, falling in three sets to No. 1 Nebraska. Wisconsin also has eight ranked wins, including a four-game stretch over No. 10 Oregon, No. 12 Purdue, No. 18 Indiana, and No. 20 Minnesota. Michigan looks to snap a nine-game losing skid against the Badgers, with its last victory coming in 2018.
