Nebraska volleyball to play first-ever match in Memorial Stadium
Nebraska Athletics announced on Friday that Husker volleyball will play its first-ever match in Memorial Stadium. Nebraska will take on Nebraska-Omaha on Wednesday, Aug. 30 at 7:00 p.m. The Nebraska-UNO match will be on the Big Ten Network.
Nebraska-Kearney and Wayne State will play at 4:30 p.m. as a part of a doubleheader. After the Nebraska-UNO match, there will be a concert featuring a national recording artist who is to be announced.
The Huskers’ Teraflex court will be positioned near the north end zone of Tom Osborne Field with the concert stage closer to midfield.
This match is the first college volleyball match to be played in a football stadium. Additionally, it could be one of the highest-attended women’s sporting events in US history.
“This is going to be a special day for the sport of volleyball in this state,” Nebraska head coach John Cook said in a statement. “At Nebraska, we’re always aiming to ‘Dream Big’ and raise the bar, and there can’t be a much bigger way to do that than to play a match outdoors in a 90,000-seat football stadium.
“We’re excited that we’re going to be able to include three other local schools as well to make it a statewide celebration. A Nebraska volleyball ticket is one of the hardest tickets in town to get, so we’re pumped that this match will give so many more fans an opportunity to come watch us play and be part of a historic day.”
Tickets will go on sale to Nebraska volleyball season ticket holders on Tuesday, April 25. Tickets will be available to the general public on Wed. April 26. Tickets will be $25 for adults and $5 for high school age and under.
Tickets count for both matches and the concert afterward.
“This is going to be a fantastic celebration of volleyball in the state of Nebraska,” Nebraska Vice Chancellor, Director of Athletics Trev Alberts said in a statement. “Our Husker program has long been a source of pride throughout the state, and we are also proud that the success of Nebraska volleyball has played a large role in the exponential growth of the sport in Nebraska. We know our great fan base will embrace Volleyball Day in Nebraska and turn out in full force for this historic event. Go Big Red!”
Memorial Stadium holds over 85,000 fans and will have more than enough room to break the current NCAA college volleyball attendance record of 18,755. Nebraska and Wisconsin set the record during the 2021 National Championship at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio.
Ready to break records
During the 2022 season, Nebraska and Creighton shattered the regular-season attendance record with 15,797 fans in attendance. The match was played in the CHI Health Center in Omaha, Nebraska and counted as a home game for the Bluejays.
13 of the 14 most-attended matches in college volleyball history have involved the Huskers.
The other match was Wisconsin vs. Florida in 2022. The Badgers claimed the regular-season attendance record 11 days later. 16,833 fans watched Wisconsin fall to Florida in five sets in the Kohl Center.
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Husker Head Coach John Cook said he wants to take back the single-season attendance record but Pinnacle Bank Arena didn’t have a high enough capacity.
Cook, Athletic Director Trev Alberts and his team found the solution. There is plenty of room to break the record and set an unreachable one in Memorial Stadium.
Not many fan bases can put a volleyball game in a football stadium and expect the fans to fill it up.
The Bob Devaney Sports Center has sold out for over 300 consecutive matches and averaged 8,172 fans per match in 2021, the most in the country.
Not only can Nebraska break the NCAA college volleyball record, but it can take down the NCAA record for women’s athletics.
UConn and Oklahoma women’s basketball holds the record for 29,619 fans at their National Championship game on March 29, 2002 at The Alamodome in San Antonio.
The WNBA’s attendance record is a crowd of 22,076. The Detriot Shock tied itself for the attendance record. In the first game, they played the Los Angeles Spark on Sept. 16, 2003 and then hit the mark again vs. the Phoenix Mercury on Sept. 16, 2007.
Here is a chart of the top five biggest crowds for a women’s sporting event in the world:
| Teams | Date | Attendance | Location |
| USA vs. China (World Cup Final) | 10/07/1999 | 90,185 | Pasadena, California |
| Australia vs. India (T20 World Cup Final) | 8/03/2020 | 86,174 | Melbourne, Australia |
| USA vs. Japan (Olympic Final) | 9/08/2012 | 80,203 | London, England |
| England vs Germany (World Cup) | 9/11/19 | 77,768 | London, England |
| Atletico Madrid vs Barcelona | 3/17/19 | 60,739 | Madrid, Spain |
Although Nebraska won’t become the highest-attended women’s sporting event in the world, it could break into the top five or get close. That would be a remarkable accomplishment. Having the fan base and resources to have a Nebraska volleyball match in Memorial Stadium is already an accomplishment in itself.
