In September of 2022, Wisconsin Volleyball broke Nebraska’s NCAA attendance record for an in-season women’s volleyball match, with 16,833 fans coming out to watch Wisconsin win. With a rival between the Badgers and the Huskers, Nebraska had the goal to take the record back.
After 8 months planning, Nebraska Volleyball not only took the record from Wisconsin, but took the world record in attendance for a women’s sport. On August 30, 2023, Nebraska played against Ohio in the middle of Memorial Stadium, which seats 85,000 people.
Tickets for the game sold out quickly as 92,003 fans in red and white packed the stadium and many more streamed the game online. While the Huskers normally play in an indoor arena seating 8,000 fans, this was a huge accomplishment for Nebraska Volleyball and all of Women’s sports. The Huskers gained a world record that night, but they also gained attention from hundreds of young girls.
In an interview with Coronado’s head volleyball coach, Erica Grove, she stated, “It’s an amazing opportunity for our younger generation to see successful women in sports, especially in a stadium like that full of thousands of people.” Women’s sports are much less attended and talked about compared to men’s sports, but Nebraska showed that Women’s sports are just as important, giving little girls the dream of wanting to play in a stadium like that in front of thousands of people.
The attention that Nebraska Volleyball got has greatly increased the attendance at women’s sporting events. Bella Martinez, Class of 2024, believes that this game, “will finally draw attention to women’s volleyball which is what they deserve because there are a lot of great athletes in the sport.”
Bella was right, a few weeks after Nebraska played in Memorial Stadium, Wisconsin volleyball was able to break the record for highest attended women’s sporting event in Wisconsin with 17,037 fans watching Wisconsin win. Though 17 thousand fans are nowhere near the 92 thousand fans that Nebraska had, it is still a great accomplishment to see that a difference is being made throughout women’s sports.
