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Northwestern volleyball faces powerhouses amid Nollan rebuild

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Northwestern volleyball faces powerhouses amid Nollan rebuild


Northwestern coach Tim Nollan is no stranger to a rebuild. Leading a program that hasn’t made an NCAA tournament appearance since 2010, Nollan stands on the primary steps of a daunting upward climb.

During his tenure at Grand Canyon, the Antelopes picked up just 25 victories from 2016 to 2018. This span included an 8-36 record in WAC play. Then, Nollan ushered a remarkable turnaround in his fourth season at the helm, notching 24 wins and a 13-3 WAC resume in 2019.

Regardless of conference prestige or fanfare, Nollan said sustained progress boils down to execution and focus on the fundamentals.

“The level is the level,” Nollan said. “It is what it is. Whether you’re in a mid-major, you’re in the Big Ten, you have to execute cleanly on both sides of the ball.”

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Much like Nollan’s prior purple program out west, the Wildcats (3-7, 1-1 Big Ten) are in the early stages of a multi-year rebuilding process.

On-court success and wins won’t stack easily, Nollan said, especially against perennial powerhouses that have consistently occupied the conference’s upper echelon. It’s a conference in which NU hasn’t escaped with a winning record in 35 years.

“The Big Ten is the best conference in the history of women’s volleyball this year,” Nollan said. “It’s incredible to be a part of the Big Ten right now.”

With No. 7 Wisconsin venturing into Evanston Saturday night, Nollan’s squad faced an especially tall task against a foe it hasn’t beaten since 2012. 

Even with the momentum of a 3-2 conference-opening win against Maryland on Sept. 26, the ’Cats were grappling with a machine they hadn’t taken a set from in three seasons. Graduate student setter Alexa Rousseau said the ’Cats have focused on consistent improvement since the season began in August.

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“Our group has talked a lot about trying to maintain our good — it doesn’t have to be perfect all the time — but when we’re playing good or great volleyball, just trying to prolong that for as long as we can,” Rousseau said. “We’re progressively trying to play our best volleyball throughout the entire game.”

Before a whiteout Welsh-Ryan Arena crowd, the Badgers (7-4, 1-1 Big Ten) made quick work of the hosts in a 3-0 victory. NU held leads on just two occasions: the first and third set’s opening points.

For Nollan, a powerhouse like Wisconsin shows his team the level of play it should strive to emulate.

“Wisconsin was a bit more polished in some of their stuff they did offensively and defensively,” Nollan said. “As I told the team in the locker room, that’s what we have to do to get into those top four or five spots in the conference. We have to be able to achieve that level of execution.”

After a two-month span without a head coach last year, the 2024 edition of the ’Cats was forged largely through work in the transfer portal. A bevy of players have stepped into elevated roles, including Rousseau, a setting specialist whom NU has leaned on heavily as a hitter.

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The graduate student tied for a team-high six kills Saturday night. Junior outside hitter Buse Hazan and sophomore outside hitter Lily Wagner each contributed six kills of their own.

With plenty of newcomers and a new system in place, Nollan said he’s seen significant strides since the ’Cats opened their campaign in Las Vegas.

“We’ve gotten a lot better at understanding our defensive system,” Nollan said. “We’ve gotten ourselves in better positions. Our blockers have made really good strides. … People have grown and flourished in those roles, and (we) obviously want to continue to pour into them and help them grow and thrive even more.”

The grueling conference slate doesn’t relent for NU, which will take on No. 10 Purdue Friday in Welsh-Ryan Arena. The Boilermakers (10-3, 1-1 Big Ten) toppled No. 16 Minnesota 3-2 Saturday night and are one of six Big Ten squads ranked inside the top 25.

“We want to build this program to build and compete for Big Ten championships,” Nollan said. “At the end of the year, I think the Big Ten can send 12 to 13 teams to the NCAA tournament. Our program goal here, certainly we want to be there every single year.”

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Wisconsin a ‘school to watch’ for SEC transfer wide receiver

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Wisconsin a ‘school to watch’ for SEC transfer wide receiver


Wisconsin is an ‘early school to watch’ for Oklahoma transfer wide receiver Jayden Gibson, according to On3’s Pete Nakos. The Badgers were given that designation along with South Carolina.

Gibson will officially enter the portal when it opens on Jan. 2. The former four-star recruit left the Oklahoma program in October. He was then officially reported to be entering the portal earlier this month.

Gibson joined the Sooners as one of the top wideouts in the class of 2022, ranked specifically as the No. 27 at his position and No. 22 from his home state of Florida. He caught just one pass for 12 yards as a true freshman in 2022. The receiver’s breakout season came as a sophomore in 2023; He appeared in all 13 games, catching 14 passes for 375 yards and five touchdowns.

The receiver could not continue that momentum in 2024, as he suffered a season-ending injury during training camp. He then did not see the field at the start of the 2025 campaign before leaving the program.

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Wisconsin has a clear need at wide receiver entering 2026, with Eugene Hilton, Trech Kekahuna and Joseph Griffin Jr. all set to enter the portal. The team is looking to fix a passing offense that averaged just 136.4 yards per game in 2025, good for 132nd in the Football Bowl Subdivision.

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Wisconsin Adds Robert Steeples to 2026 Coaching Staff

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Wisconsin Adds Robert Steeples to 2026 Coaching Staff


MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin has added Robert Steeples to its 2026 coaching staff, head coach Luke Fickell announced on Tuesday. Steeples will serve as cornerbacks coach for the Badgers, moving Paul Haynes to oversee the entire secondary.

“Bringing Robert Steeples to Wisconsin is a great addition to our coaching staff,” Fickell said in a statement. “He has seen the game at every level – Playing professionally, coaching at the high school and collegiate level. Our players and staff will love working with him and we’re excited to get him here.

“With the addition, we will be moving Paul Haynes to a role that will allow him to work with our entire secondary to strengthen our unit.”

Steeples spent the last two seasons at Iowa State as a defensive analyst. Prior to his two seasons with the Cyclones, Steeples coached cornerbacks at LSU from 2022-23. The St. Louis native played collegiately at Missouri and Memphis. He went undrafted in 2013, but spent four seasons in the NFL with the St. Louis Rams, Minnesota Vikings, Kansas City Chiefs, and Dallas Cowboys.

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“Wisconsin’s commitment to excellence and rugged style of play gives me the opportunity to work with the type of student-athletes that can benefit most from my style of coaching,” Steeples said in a statement. “The defensive structure and culture that Coach Fickell and Coach Tressel have implemented complements the guys on the island – the corners. The defensive staff is full of experience, great leaders, but most importantly great human beings – which makes for a fantastic environment for growth. I’m excited to get into the trenches with the guys and do my part. The opportunity ahead is a blessing.”

Steeples will inherit a Wisconsin cornerback room that currently returns two key performers from the 2025 season — redshirt freshman Omillio Agard and true freshman Cairo Skanes.

Steeples is the second off-season hire for the Badgers, joining offensive line coach Eric Mateos, who came over from Arkansas.

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The transfer portal opens on Jan. 2 and the insider rumblings are already heating up for Wisconsin! There’s not a better time to join the fastest-growing UW team site. New members can sign up and enjoy insider access for just $1!

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Wisconsin judge sends Slender Man attacker back to mental health institution after group home escape

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Wisconsin judge sends Slender Man attacker back to mental health institution after group home escape


MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin woman who almost killed her sixth-grade classmate to please the fictional horror villain known as Slender Man was ordered back to a state psychiatric hospital Tuesday after she escaped from her group home last month.

Waukesha County Circuit Judge K. Scott Wagner granted a state Department of Health Services request to revoke 23-year-old Morgan Geyser’s release privileges. Geyser told the judge through her attorney, Tony Cotton, last week that she would not fight revocation. Wagner then approved the request during a short hearing.

Cotton didn’t immediately respond to an email message seeking comment.

Geyser and her friend Anissa Weier lured their classmate, Payton Leutner, to a Waukesha park in 2014. Geyser stabbed Leutner 19 times while Weier cheered her on. A passing bicyclist discovered Leutner, who barely survived. All three girls were 12 years old at the time.

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Geyser and Weier later told investigators they attacked Leutner in hopes of impressing Slender Man enough that he would make them his servants and wouldn’t hurt their families. Both of them were eventually committed to the Winnebago Mental Health Institute — Geyser for 40 years and Weier for 25 years.

Weier earned conditional release in 2021. Wagner granted Geyser conditional release this past September despite warnings from state Department of Health Services officials that she couldn’t be trusted.

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Geyser was placed in a Madison group home. Authorities say that on Nov. 22 she cut off her GPS monitor and fled the state with a 43-year-old companion. Police arrested both of them the next day at a truck stop outside Chicago, about 170 miles (274 kilometers) south of Madison.

Geyser’s companion told WKOW-TV that the two of them became friends at church and had been seeing each other daily for the last month. Geyser decided to escape because she was afraid the group home would no longer allow them to see each other, the companion said.

Slender Man was created online by Eric Knudsen in 2009 as a mysterious figure photo-edited into everyday images of children at play. He grew into a popular boogeyman, appearing in video games, online stories and a 2018 movie.

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