Nebraska Volleyball Takes Center Stage In Lincoln For Soldout Event At Football Stadium In Front Of 90,000 Fans

Move over Nebraska football. The women's volleyball team is taking center stage in Lincoln tonight in front of a sold-out crowd at Memorial Stadium.

When the idea of hosting a volleyball match was first brought up at Nebraska, many in the athletic department knew they could sell tickets, but selling out the stadium was unprecedented. The Huskers have sold out 303 consecutive regular-season volleyball matches at Bob Devaney Sports Center that holds over 13,000 fans. The volleyball program has a rich history that includes five national championships and 34 conference titles. 

Update: The University of Nebraska volleyball team broke the world's all-time attendance record for a women's sporting event, with 92,003 fans packing Memorial Stadium. The previous record was set at the UEFA Women's Champions League match in Barcelona last year, with 91,648 fans.

Nebraska will see 90,000 people takeover Memorial Stadium tonight for its volleyball match with OmahaCourtesy of Nebraska Sports Management

But holding a match inside Memorial Stadium was taking this to a whole new level. The athletic department is calling it 'Volleyball Day In Nebraska', with the Cornhuskers hosting Omaha in the main event, while Nebraska-Kearney will play Wayne State in the game before.

The challenge to fill the stadium was started when Wisconsin broke NCAA volleyball attendance record last season with 16,833 fans. So, Nebraska decided it was worth a shot to break their record by holding the match inside the football stadium.

Turns out, the promotion worked. Not only did the school sell out its full allotment of 82,900 tickets, but athletic director Trev Alberts is predicting the final number to be around 95,000, which is astonishing.

Worth noting: The record attendance for a women's sporting event in the U.S. is 90,185 at the 1999 World Cup final at the Rose Bowl. The international record is 91,648 for a UEFA Women's Champions League match in Barcelona last year.

It also helped that the Nebraska football team was playing at Minnesota on Thursday night, freeing up the stadium, which went into the planning.

"There is no place like Nebraska. What more can you say?” Nebraska head coach John Cook said at the time. “We knew there was a lot of interest in this event based on the reaction we’ve had the last couple of months traveling around the state and the country.”

Tonight's event will be an historic moment for women's sports, with 90,000 fans enjoying two different volleyball matches.