For the longest time, we have been fighting for women’s sports to be taken seriously. They are often overlooked as less important, less impressive and less interesting to watch. This past week University of Nebraska’s women’s volleyball team hit an enormous mile-marker in the history of women’s sports. The team set a world record for largest attendance ever at a women’s sporting event. The team filled the university’s football stadium with 92,003 fans in attendance. These trailblazing Cornhuskers made history this past Wednesday night.
This team is no stranger to selling out venues for their electric matches. The Cornhuskers have sold out their previous 306 games in their own arena that holds 8,000 seats. Though they are somewhat used to the attention, Coach Cook was definitely hesitant to book the game at Memorial Stadium. However, Coach Cook didn’t have much to worry about because they sold the stadium out in a very timely manner. They forecasted it to be a lovely night in Lincoln, Nebraska, for this incredibly deserving team and fanbase.
The crowd was filled with women who paved the way for this achievement and little girls who watched with dreams in their eyes. This was reality. Women’s sports were finally shown on the big screen. Not only was this a world record of a night, but the team played phenomenally. Lexi Rodriguez, one of Nebraska’s liberos, had an incredible game with a match-high of 15 digs and led her team to beat their in-state rivals, Omaha. During the match’s second and third sets, they announced the world record over the stadium speakers. This was a monumental moment not only for this team but for all the future teams to come.
Nebraska, as a state, is no stranger to huge fan bases. The state looked at this volleyball team as a way to lift up women’s sports overall and they knew that they had the fans to do it. The team had incredible records to back the fact that they could sell out a stadium of this magnitude. The volleyball team has won four national championships and 10 national semi-finals. Along with having incredible players, the team has had some legendary coaches who have guided them to where they are now. Before John Cook, the team had Terry Pettit as head coach. Pettit led his team to 21 conference championships in his coaching career at University of Nebraska. As the game progressed, Pettit felt he could no longer handle the responsibilities that he would have as head coach for a growing team and program. Coach John Cook picked up where Pettit left off with a new thirst for success. Cook was sure to encourage fans to support the volleyball team just as much as they do the football team. Now, both teams quickly sellout their sporting events on both stages.
A multitude of factors made this event possible, one being Coach Cook’s passion for both the team and its fan base. The Nebraska Coliseum was known to be small and had caused issues in the past. During the summer of 2022, Coach Cook started to think of different match locations for his team. One possibility was the university’s basketball arena, though it only holds 15,500 people. Ultimately Nebraska’s athletic director, Trev Alberts, would ask about the big stage: Memorial Stadium. The stage was set, and the Cornhuskers were ready to make history.
This was an incredibly moving event that will forever change the stigma around women’s sports. Thousands of little girls would scan their tickets to an event that would show them that anything was possible. The women that came before watched with admiration in their eyes. Representation matters and this showed girls around the world that one day they too could be on the big stage playing for 92,003 fans. This revolutionary event affected many people. This is just the beginning.