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‘It’s incredible': A crowd of 92,003 attends the Nebraska volleyball match
It's a huge celebration! A volleyball match between Nebraska and Omaha witnessed the largest crowd to ever watch a women's sports event.
While women's sports have been gaining fandom amongst various sports lovers, exemplary support was witnessed for the women's volleyball match between Nebraska and Omaha on August 30, 2023. About 92,003 fans watched the five-time NCAA champion Nebraska Volleyball Team beat the Omaha Team by 3-0.
A wild cheer filled out the Memorial Stadium on Wednesday when the attendance record was announced to the supporters of the team.
Held at the home of Nebraska football, the crowd broke the previous record for attendance in a women's sports event, which was 91,648, in a Champions League match between FC Barcelona and Wolfsburg in April 2022.
The day was dubbed “Volleyball Day in Nebraska” as the match was the result of long months of planning and publicity that attracted a huge crowd.
A genuine support for the game and team was seen in the spirits of the attendees who paid for the tickets and braved the harsh summer temperatures to attend that “thrilling” match.
While the tickets for an earlier match between Wayne State and Nebraska were priced at $25 for adults and $% for high school students, the prices for this match amounted up to $400 on the secondary market.
Additionally, people had begun to stream in for the opening match as soon as 4:30 p.m. in the afternoon when the sun was directly overhead the court and the temperature was in the mid-80s.
Andi Jackson, middle blocker for the volleyball team expressed her elation at the announcement saying, "It's incredible. I don't have enough words to describe it. We were walking out of the tunnel after the second set, and we heard on the speaker we had just broken the world record. Everyone was trying to stay locked in, but we were also so excited. I can't describe how grateful I am to be a part of it."
Team coach John Cook commented on how there were only three times schools had ever shut down in the city.
"One, snowstorms. Two, COVID, Three, Nebraska volleyball in the stadium," he said.
Usually, the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) does not track attendance of all sports, Jeff Williams, the associate director of media coordination and statistics told the Associated Press that a crowd of 90,000 plus was the largest ever for a non-football game and thus, has been kept as a record.
