A former Northwestern volleyball player filed a lawsuit claiming the school and its athletic department were negligent in response to an alleged hazing incident in which she was injured.
A spokesperson for the university did not respond to questions about the alleged incident. The volleyball player attended Northwestern from 2019 through 2023, according to the lawsuit. She said she contracted COVID in February 2021 and the coaches decided to punish her for breaking the team's COVID safety guidelines.
She said she followed the guidelines. In early March of that year, according to the lawsuit, Davis told his team's captains to pick a"punishment" for the player. The captains made the player"run suicide" sprints that included diving to the ground at each line on the gymnasium floor while her teammates and coaches watched. She said she was injured and required medical attention after completing the sprints. The following day, Northwestern opened an investigation into hazing within the program, according to the lawsuit. The player said the school eventually determined hazing had occurred, but did not share the final results of the investigation with her and did not punish any of the volleyball coaches or players. The school has not publicly shared information about an investigation into the volleyball program and did not immediately respond to a request to confirm an investigation. The team did postpone two weeks of matches in early March 2021, according to the athletic department website. The two announcements say one weekend series against Michigan State was canceled because of COVID protocols and another against Wisconsin was postponed because of"a pause in Northwestern team activities." No other details were provided in that announcement. The player said she was isolated after the incident, and that Davis refused to properly coach her during practices. She said she met with current athletic director Derrick Gragg concerning the team's culture during the 2021-22 academic year. According to the lawsuit, she remained on the team through December 2022 when she medically retired from the sport.
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