​After finishing last season with a 17-15 overall record and 7-13 Big Ten record, Northwestern looks poised to take yet another major step forward. Several key pieces of last year’s roster graduated, mainly Ayah Elnady and Rylen Reid, but the ‘Cats return several exciting young players like Bella Bullington and Lauren Dignan, while adding potential impact players like Utah State transfer Mara Štiglic.There will be plenty of new faces, but the Northwestern identity and culture should remain intact and enable winning.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementNorthwestern will open its Big Ten schedule by hosting two of the West Coast teams.First up is USC, which finished last season with an overall record of 25-7 and a Big Ten record of 15-5. The Trojans ousted the ‘Cats in four sets last year, winning three straight after NU won the opening set. Bullington led the way for Northwestern with a team-high 13 kills while Kayla Kauffman contributed six blocks. Bad news for the ‘Cats is outside hitter London Wijay returns for USC after having a 400-kill season, including 22 in the win over Northwestern. However, the Trojans do the loss of setter Reese Messer, who made the All-Big Ten First Team alongside Wijay. She takes her talents to Kansas this upcoming season.Two days later, UCLA will walk into Welsh-Ryan Arena as another extremely talented California team. The Bruins went 19-13 last season with a 12-8 Big Ten record. Last year’s Bruin and Wildcat matchup was as close as a game can get, as the ‘Cats fell 18-16 in the fifth set. Drew Wright had 17 digs in the game for the ‘Cats, but ultimately their 27 errors cost them. With the graduation of their best hitter in, Cheridyn Leverette, the Bruins will be looking for a new identity early this season, so the Wildcats have a golden opportunity to pounce.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementOctober doesn’t get any easier for Northwestern, as it plays three of last season’s top-seven Big Ten teams in the first 15 days of the month.Minnesota went 24-10 last year with a 12-8 Big Ten record. The Gophers took down the ‘Cats in four sets, hitting .290 and totaling 11 blocks. Minnesota loses its best hitter, Julia Hanson, who led the team with 470 kills last season, but Kelly Kinney should fill the gap on the outside as she had 254 kills herself.Ohio State had an abominable year last year and is Northwestern’s first game in which it should be heavy favorites. The Buckeyes went 6-22 overall and 3-17 in the Big Ten. The ‘Cats won the matchup last season behind 14 Bullington kills and seven Kauffman blocks. The Buckeyes return their top hitter and setter this season, so they should be improved, but if Northwestern wants to finish in the top half of the Big Ten, a home game against Ohio State is one it needs to win.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementIt’s quickly back to difficult challenges for the ‘Cats with a road matchup against Penn State. The Nittany Lions went 19-13 last season and