The after-match dance party/Matt Smith photo
LINCOLN, Nebraska — If there was any doubt about the importance of the night, the numbers hovering above Memorial Stadium in the post-match light show made the point of the night crystal clear.
The drones aligned to form the number 92,003.
“We made a statement to everybody else on how important volleyball is here and we want the record,” Nebraska coach John Cook said. “We did it to the world.”
Indeed, because 92,003 attended Nebraska’s 25-14, 25-14, 25-13 sweep over Omaha on Wednesday night.
In an event designed to take back the regular-season attendance record the Huskers lost to Wisconsin last season, Nebraska fans packed its football stadium, leaving no doubt where the record resided. The crowd also quintupled the old NCAA mark for fans from the 2021 title match, surpassed the Memorial Stadium record and set a world record for a women’s sporting event.
Cook admitted playing a match in such a large venue was risky — luckily the weather cooperated — and said he was proud of how everyone supported the program. By returning the record to Nebraska, the fans proved how the sport is a state treasure.
The play on the court didn’t match the caliber of a typical college match. By the time the match started, the sun was hidden behind the West Stadium structure and the temperature dropped to more comfortable levels, in the low 80s.
However, the wind blowing out of the south was a little stronger than anticipated and played havoc with passing and serving. Any wind at all, of course, made it different than an indoors match.
Andi Jackson attacks for Nebraska/Matt Smith photo
Nebraska (4-0) hit just .263, led by eight kills on 12 swings from Andi Jackson.
“We were walking out of the tunnel on the second set and we heard on the speaker that we had just broken the world record,” Jackson said. “We celebrated in the tunnel walking out. It’s incredible..”
The freshman middle blocker said she might have benefitted from the breezy conditions. While she usually thrives on slide attacks, the wind forced the Huskers to change their game plan and feature more quick attacks from setter Bergen Reilly.
“Tonight with the wind, it was just stay in front (of Reilly) and shoot it out of her hands and be up for her,” Jackson said.
Nebraska had 80 attacks but only 29 kills, five fewer than their lowest from the 2022 season. Reilly finished with 19 assists and three kills. Most of those kills came on tight sets when the wind blew the ball close to the net.
Freshman outside hitter Harper Murray added six kills, while junior Lindsay Krause totaled five. Junior opposite Merritt Beason recorded three kills and four blocks. Middle blocker Bekka Allick didn’t have a kill on five attacks in her two sets on the court but tallied three blocks.
Nebraska junior Lexi Rodriguez, who recorded 15 digs, said they tried to keep their passes low so as not to let the wind impact the ball as much. The environment improved later in the match as the stadium lighting made tracking the ball easier.
“Once we got going a crowd is a crowd and once we got focused on the six people on the court the biggest thing was managing the wind and focusing on our side,” Rodriguez said.
The All-American libero said they also had to adjust their serving strategy based on whether they were serving into the wind. The Huskers missed on 12 serves, while Omaha had 11 service errors.
Cook credited Nebraska’s experience of playing beach volleyball in the spring to helping them deal with the elements.
“It was pretty windy out there and it was really tough,” he said. “Understanding how to play beach probably gave us an advantage tonight.”
That theme carried over from the day’s opening match between Division II powers Wayne State and Nebraska-Kearney. Wayne State, which plays beach volleyball, won all three sets in the exhibition match. They played with the sun beaming on the court, which created a more challenging environment. While the practice session on Tuesday helped, and they also tried visualization exercises, they didn’t know what to expect until the match started.
“I don’t think anything can prepare you for playing indoor volleyball outside,” Wayne State setter Rachel Walker said.
Meanwhile, Omaha (0-3) hit negative .080 with 18 kills and 25 errors in 88 swings.
Freshman outside hitter Amanda Hardt and junior outside Shayla McCormick had five kills each.
Omaha coach Matt Buttermore said the wind made some sets float while knocking down others.
“It’s a hard adjustment to make and we’re not used to it,” he said. “We’re just trying to give them some advice like we got to be really aggressive in this direction and we got to be a little more tentative this direction, which is not something you train every day.”
Omaha setter Olivia Curry said it was one of the more challenging environments she’s ever played in — and that didn’t have anything to do with the record-breaking crowd. She would set up where she thought the ball would come to her, but it kept moving, throwing off her timing.
Despite the struggles, Curry wasn’t hanging her head after the match.
“I think that that is the first game I’ve lost where I still left with a smile on my face because that experience was just truly amazing,” she said.
After the match, the Nebraska players celebrated the event with an impromptu dance party. Rodriguez did the worm. Lancy Choboy ripped off a gymnastics tumbling run. The whole team jumped around with the music.
It was an energy rarely seen in the 100-year-old football stadium.
“I’ve never seen the crowd at Memorial Stadium as fired up as they were tonight for the entire event,” Cook said. “I hope we set a new standard tonight for football games with our fans with what they can do and the energy they can bring. The energy down there was unbelievable.
“It was a magical night.”
***
According to The Associated Press, the previous attendance record was 91,648, set during a Champions League soccer match when Wolfsburg played Barcelona 5-2 at the Camp Nou Stadium in 2022. Memorial Stadium’s official capacity is just over 85,000 for football, but that number was higher for this event because there were seats and standing room on the field.
The AP also noted that though 91,648 was widely acknowledged as the women’s sports attendance record, at least one match at the unofficial 1971 Women’s World Cup in Mexico City reportedly drew 110,000 people.
The American record attendance for a women’s sporting event had been 90,185 for the 1999 World Cup soccer final between the United States and China at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California — the game where Brandi Chastain ripped off her shirt after scoring the decisive penalty shot for the U.S. win.
92,003/Matt Smith photo
Source
