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Northwestern's Davis embraces the volleyball challenge in Big Ten

Having coached only men's college volleyball over his career, Shane Davis had concerns about transitioning to women's college volleyball.

For starters, how would he find players? In leading Loyola Chicago to back-to-back men's Division I national championships in 2014 and 2015, he knew the hotbeds of boys high school volleyball like the back of his hand.

Girls high school volleyball? Not so much.

And his goal in taking over women's volleyball program last year was to turn Northwestern into a Big Ten power. As quickly as possible.

“I went out and hired one of the best recruiters in the country in Erin Virtue,” Davis said. “She knows kids. She knows the best players in girls volleyball. She is an unbelievable asset in recruiting.”

Virtue, a native of St. Charles who played setter at Wheaton St. Francis and then at Illinois through 2004, did a good job of scratching together a formidable inaugural recruiting class on the fly for Davis.

Three of those freshmen (Lexi Pitsas, Alana Walker and Danyelle Williams) are now starting for the Wildcats, who already have surpassed last year's win total with 10 matches left on the schedule.

“It's a really good (recruiting) class, the second-highest Northwestern has ever had,” Davis said. “Prep Volleyball (magazine) ranked the class 22nd in the country.”

That's the good news.

The bad news?

“The class was 22nd in the country, but still ninth in the Big Ten,” Davis said with a half-chuckle, half-sigh.

And that is the challenge for Davis. While he adjusts to coaching women instead of men, he also must catch up with a superpower conference that is ridiculously good.

This week, six Big Ten teams were ranked in the American Volleyball Coaches Association Top 25. And Penn State is the No. 1 team in the country.

“It's tough to play catch-up in the toughest conference,” Davis said. “But I love how competitive the Big Ten is. You could have a weekend in which you play back-to-back Top 10 teams, one on Friday and one on Saturday. That's the reality.

“The conference has the best RPI in the country and a lot of teams in the bottom third of the conference will be fighting for (NCAA tournament berths). That's pretty amazing.”

Last season, the Big Ten had nine teams in the NCAA Tournament. And since 2012, a Big Ten team has been ranked No. 1 for 44 weeks. Over the past 11 years, the league has produced eight national champions and two national runners-up.

“I credit the incredible commitment that the Big Ten has made,” Davis said. “Just look at the resources that the conference is putting into volleyball.”

Davis cited increases in travel and staffs and TV exposure, pointing out that on Wednesday three Big Ten volleyball matches were on national television. Also, many Big Ten schools are investing volleyball facilities.

Northwestern certainly is with its massive overhaul of Welsh-Ryan Arena. The volleyball team has been playing its matches at Evanston High School and at DePaul University this season while the renovations are taking place. They should be complete next fall.

“We are going to have a locker room that is identical to what the men's and women's basketball teams get,” Davis said. “Welsh-Ryan is going to have all the bells and whistles everywhere. It will be great.”

Crushing recruiting in the Chicago area, an area rich with high school volleyball talent, is a top priority for Davis.

“We want to focus more of our recruiting here and protect our own backyard because the volleyball is so good here,” Davis said. “Recruiting is the biggest piece of what we're trying to do here. We have some good pieces now.

“We're doing a lot of good things. I like the pace we're moving. I can see the (NCAA) tournament in the near future for us.”

pbabcock@dailyherald.com

Twitter: @babcockmcgraw

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