Nebraska volleyball event aims to set women's sports attendance record

An attendance record of global proportions could be set Wednesday night when the University of Nebraska hosts a celebration of volleyball at Memorial Stadium.

The event will feature an exhibition between in-state Division II powers Nebraska-Kearney and Wayne State and a regular-season match between Omaha and the fourth-ranked Cornhuskers. Country artist Scotty McCreery will perform afterward.

Nebraska athletic department officials have taken aim at the women's sporting event attendance record of 91,648, set during a Champions League soccer match as Barcelona defeated Real Madrid 5-2 at the Camp Nou Stadium in 2022.

Memorial Stadium's official capacity is just over 85,000 for football, but that number will be higher for this event because seating on the field is available. The court is positioned on the north end of the stadium, which is the home field of the Huskers football team.

The American record attendance for a women's sporting event is 90,185 for the 1999 World Cup soccer final between the United States and China at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.

Nebraska has sold out 306 consecutive regular-season matches, though Wednesday's event won't count toward the streak because it is not being held on the team's Devaney Center court. The Huskers have led the nation in attendance every season since 2013, and eight of the top nine crowds in NCAA volleyball history are matches that have involved Nebraska.

"I keep flashing back to the USA soccer team playing at the Rose Bowl," Huskers coach John Cook said. "That was a big moment for women's sports and soccer really shot up. I think this is another great chance for that to happen in the sport of volleyball."

This is HUGE, both for volleyball and women’s sports. I wish I