Nebraska volleyball sets new world record as 92,000 fans attend match at Memorial Stadium

In Lincoln, Nebraska, football is the biggest draw. But Nebraska volleyball isn’t far behind, as evidenced by Wednesday’s crowd at Memorial Stadium for an outdoor match.

More than 92,000 fans were in attendance as the No. 4-ranked Cornhuskers took on Omaha and completed a 3-0 sweep. That set a new world record.

Nebraska set a new mark for the biggest crowd at a women’s event in history, topping the previous mark of 91,648 set by a 2022 soccer match between Barcelona and Wolfburg. It also marks a new Memorial Stadium record, beating out the previous top crowd of 91,585 for a 2014 victory over Miami.

BREAKING: #Nebraska volleyball breaks the world attendance record for a women's sporting event.

92,003 AT A VOLLEYBALL MATCH

Story: https://t.co/zyR9kSIDwC pic.twitter.com/NfldF3F8c5

— Abby Barmore (@Abby_Barmore) August 31, 2023

By holding the match at Memorial Stadium, Nebraska was preparing to blow away the previous NCAA record for volleyball attendance. When the Cornhuskers took on Wisconsin in the 2021 national championship, they played in front of 18,755 fans. The largest regular-season volleyball attendance crowd was just last season when Wisconsin took on Florida in Madison. That night, 16,833 fans came out.

“You guys, thank you,” Nebraska coach John Cook told the crowd after the win, getting emotional as he grabbed the microphone. “As we say, we have the best fans in the country. You guys proved it. And I was thinking this morning, there’s only three things that shut down the University of Nebraska. One, snow storms. Two, COVID. Three, Nebraska volleyball in the stadium. So students, you’re welcome.

“And the last thing I’ll say, I want to shout out to Kenny, who’s firing everybody up. But from one of our players, she said tonight, the impossible is possible. So thank you very much. There’s no place like Nebraska.”

“Volleyball Day in Nebraska” didn’t just end when the match concluded, though. About 15 minutes afterward, country singer Scotty McCreery will perform a 75-minute concert for the Cornhuskers faithful.

In addition, the volleyball players got to do the “Tunnel Walk” — something the football team usually does before games.

“I’m pumped,” Nebraska middle blocker Bekka Allick said in a press conference, via On3’s Pete Nakos. “I kind of wish I had a couple of pads on and we could just like run into each other and like feel like a bunch of dogs. But it’ll be sick.”

The day also presented plenty of NIL opportunities, especially considering each member of the Nebraska volleyball team has a licensing agreement with The Brandr Group. A source told On3 it is the biggest NIL activation since UConn basketball.

Nebraska entered Wednesday’s match as the No. 4-ranked team in the nation after a 3-0 start to the season. The Cornhuskers improved to 4-0 with their sweep of Omaha, led by some big performances. Andi Jackson led the way with eight kills while Harper Murray had six and Lindsay Krause added five.

Lexi Rodriguez had a huge day on defense, leading the way with 15 kills. Bergen Reilly also set up the offensive attack with a team-high 19 assists.