92,003: Volleyball Day in Nebraska Documentary Episode | The Place

[Music] I remember when the women's soccer team in 99 won the World Cup and that celebration I mean that was that was a pivotal moment for women's sports I think this you know is the was the next great moment for for women's sports and the fact that it was volleyball and again I keep coming back to it's it's Lincoln Nebraska you know we always talk about we're the epicenter and and and again we say we have the greatest fans we and and volleyball is a state treasure here and the fact that we were able to pull this off it just proves all that The Impossible Is Possible there's no place like [Music] Nebraska we can we can do some amazing things together and and our team did that and I will tell you this we've got as talented people in the athletic department at the University of Nebraska across the board as anybody in the country nobody does what we do Wisconsin broke our attendance record we said hey we got to get it back record crowd of almost 16,000 got to watch Nebraska and kraton play in a five set Thriller on Friday W can top Nebraska again the Huskers just set the regular season record for largest crowd 9 days ago so Trev and I met and we looked at PBA there was no way we could get enough people in PBA to break the record so my next question was well what do we have to do we got to play at Chi do we have to play a pinnacle and they said no unfortunately we don't have a venue that's large enough to be able to break the record so they're going to hold it and I said well actually we do have a venue traic goes let's go do a stadium match I'm like yeah right and walked out thinking yeah right that was kind of a you know a flippant comment a bit of a joke never really and then you know the more I thought about it the more I thought well what what if we did try to do that between Trev and John in the room together the idea came from that room I think just John knowing that the record was out there and Trev behind it all the way is what maybe gave the final push to get us to where we were actually wheels turning and we're going to make this event happen breaking news in the volleyball World Nebraska volleyball's match in Memorial Stadium volleyball day in Nebraska how awesome is that and next thing you know we're we're rolling on it and they've got a plan how to do it I think for all of us in the department then was like okay this is real and now we got to get to business um making sure that the presentation is at an elite [Music] level [Music] I really started believing like we might be able to do this but to be honest with you when the tickets went on sale and you you I I heard the system crashed and they're saying like oh wow we might get to 60 to 80 and I was just thinking oh this is like fake Twitter news you know like you know they do those fake things on Twitter I'm thinking okay this is like somebody's messing around here that's what my really was my first thought like there's no way and then here we go the reality is is I thought if we had 30,000 people that'd be pretty cool I mean how was the last time 30,000 people watched a volleyball game to hear that we're going to be playing in the football field and we could potentially sell it out I was like this is insane I think probably initially when it was first announced a lot of people are like yeah let's see I don't think there's any way we sell at the stadium it's on a Wednesday night people from Western Nebraska can't come in the middle of the week so I thought they're kind of hurting their chances but they'll still sell you know 30 or 4 40,000 tickets maybe was my guess got to set the alarm make sure we get the tickets so I could be you know get best mom award and then the day the tickets went on sale and they sold out in like an hour and a half I think of the first bunch and so it was just really exciting to see the support that came forward the Oscars website shows no more seats are open on its interactive map this came less than 24 hours after they became available yesterday morning I think if anybody knows Nebraska they know that you guys do sellouts and because of that we knew that Not only was it going to be a sellout but they actually the stands would be full like not just the tickets bought and whatever like bodies were going to be in seats and that meant a completely different story in case anybody needed a reminder who has the best fans in all of college sports volleyball day in Nebraska is officially sold out when the sellout was announced I think that caught more people's attention I really think that people just thought well even if I don't watch volleyball on the regular you know this is going to be special and I want to be there for it the record for a volleyball game belongs in the state of Nebraska the day before the event Kennedy wrote a card to everybody on the team and with a rose so that night I read it when I got home and I got really emotional reading it and then we had the pep rally and I was going to read the whole card to the whole pep rally in the Coliseum but I I couldn't do [Applause] it oh my goodness he was an emotional wreck he was in full Grandpa mode there's multiple sides to everyone but coach has two very significant ones he's either coach or grandpa in that day as much as he wanted to be coach like we need to focus on you and know okay we got a cleanup passing we got to clean up up serving we need to thump it I don't care about the wind I don't care about this when he saw what was going on and how much this program means to us and the fan base like he was taking it all in just as much as we [Music] [Applause] [Music] were being on that stage and how they handled it how they handled the prep rally interacting with those kids and that was a long day for us they sense the moment being a role model and how many young girls they were going to impact the one that looked just like me her name was NAA so they brought her out and she IM I could notice like she had some emotions and she was obviously wearing my jersey so I was like oh this is so cool she gets on the mic and just starts breaking down and then I heard my name she's like I need Becca Alec and so without hesitation I ran over hey big [Music] girl I just knew that I needed to be there for her and having someone break down over me it made me realize that like what I do and what I stand for and how I play it's a lot more than what I think it is it's not just me showing up for practice and it's not just me playing hard like I'm representing somebody I constantly told myself I'm like okay if I don't see anybody that looks like me in my position I'm going to be the first and so when I saw her dressed like me looked like me I'm like Oh my goodness [Music] I think everyone knows that this would not be possible without each and every every one of you and there's a reason that there's no place like Nebraska and that we have the best fan base in the in the nation in the world um so thank you so much we hope to hear you nice and Loud tonight at Memorial Stadium go [Applause] GR well the assembly is so exciting I mean you just could just be all at first they didn't picture filling the place but quickly they did and they filled it up boy that became quite the event and I tell you what this is great for the sport of volleyball great for women's sport Sports in general I think this is once in a lifetime deal this will be remembered for a long time one thing going into this game we talked to John Cook about was he was really happy to see high school students and middle school students Club athletes be able to go to a game because a lot of times at Dean they they can't get in or can't get tickets because it's the hottest ticket in Lincoln there's no distance too far for Husker fans when it comes to witnessing history teams across the Metro have canceled practice and loaded up buses to head down to Lincoln they know these players they've played with them um they've watched them they been mentored by them um and to get to see them on this big stage it only gives them confidence to be able to do the exact same thing we had so many Subs that day because teachers were leaving to go and enjoy the game and in history class we talked about the history of Nebraska volleyball and it was just it was really just a you know a city-wide [Music] event [Music] I wonder all the time like why us like why why do I born at this time you know graduated this day made all these decisions that led me to this exact point where I am now walking out where a bunch of great football players have walked and I'm going to run out to 92,000 people I I was just happy to be a part of it and uh getting to lead our team out there in the tunnel [Applause] [Music] [Applause] walk ladies and gentlemen here com your nabraska corn husker oh say do that [Applause] star I think the national anthem and the flyover really got a lot of people in greetings Nebraska and welcome inside a football ATT and 210 right covered and now the H turn left attacked there by crowy he's on the board thebr got up the offense set by Le to the right front baby Amanda Hart two sto by Becca Alex anything over 91648 eclipses the highest attendance ever for a women's sporting event 91,4 is the magic number we'll find out [Applause] momentarily Nebraska is now a world [Music] [Music] that Roar is because we're going to get our answer on what the attendance [Applause] is world record achieved 92,3 people going through the turn Styles having a ticket scan here tonight this was sold out in 48 hours this event we thought there was a pretty good chance now we know it what a moment for women's sports this Sport and for this state in this program in Nebraska we guys thank you as we say we have the best fans in the country you guys proved it once the game ended and and I took my ifb out and you know RI my headset off I remember hugging Connor and just saying we're a part of History this is the coolest thing that I probably will ever cover it's a record Setter in Nebraska it's a record Setter for women's sports I haven't seen something like that uh in a long time talk about big red indeed it was just a SE a red and a big record for women's sports attendance it's not a Taylor swi concert fiance that was the girls volleyball team history in the Heartland something very very special happened at the University of Nebraska last night in a sea of rat they cheered by the tens of thousands the largest attendance for a women's sports event in in history just took place in linkoln Nebraska 92,3 that is the record breaking number of 92,000 and3 people there to see it at Memorial Stadium to see volleyball day one of the best programs in the world more than 92,000 people build Memorial Stadium it's not every day that a college volleyball game needs to upgrade its venue to a football stadium stum and I just you got to give credit where credit is due I remember the games in the Coliseum and to think that they you know sold out at the at Memorial Stadium absolutely amazing you look at Women's Volleyball 92,000 people showed up at a women's volleyball game that's crazy yeah and um what did it feel like to play in front of more than 90,000 people I think the whole day it was just it was super emotional for all of us nothing's ever going to live up to this event because of how big it was and how big of a celebration of our our sport that it was you can do it again but it's never going to replicate the same feel that we had on August 30th just a lot of gratitude like I I've said this before like I wonder all the time like why us and so when I'm walking out there my biggest thing was taking it in I just I feel like this event really showed people there really is no place like Nebraska people say it all the time and I'm lucky enough to have had experiences playing in a lot of other other places and I 100% believe there is no place like Nebraska and putting on an event like this and having the fan support like this I feel like really confirms that and just it shows the world there really is no place like Nebraska so it's something I'm I'll always be proud to have been a part of the alumni was so incredibly gracious to have the opportunity to be back for it but also to reminisce about the you know where the program had come from we were able to hear from people from different decades who just had completely different experiences as to what volleyball was when they were playing here they were the foundation to help get that team out on a court in Memorial Stadium and with 92,000 fans and I really hope they walked away feeling um a part of that and and really feeling that this is a family and um we wouldn't be where we were today and this event wouldn't happen without the alumni when you look at the um records that we surpassed the when you think of world Cup soccer and you think at the world stage and soccer the impact it has across the world and then you put a Collegiate volleyball match up against that and we able to beat that record um I think that's one reason it grabed so much attention across the [Music] world when I played we were in the Coliseum um but we were selling out most matches we started the sellout streak my last year um but we heard from people who played 20 years before me who they would try to get football fans to come in after a football game they'd be like show your ticket stub and I think I don't know you got popcorn and something for a dollar if you'd come support the volleyball team and they would set up the chairs before the match themselves and I mean it's just it's been a very long journey I think of women dedicating themselves and being willing to sacrifice to play a sport that we all loved um to get to the point where our team can go down there and they can play in front of 92,000 fans like that's insane yeah I would definitely say after feeling that or seeing that atmosphere this guy's a limit you know as a girl you know growing up and and seeing that and you're like wow I'm in Lincoln Nebraska and this is what's happening here we're setting world records and this stadium is full of people for women playing volleyball so I would definitely say the sky's a limit and yeah dream big go for it was there risk sure um and we would have had I'd have had to stand up and say I'm sorry we tried but look at the reward just go make it happen we were dreaming big to put this on but we also um there was maybe a little fear behind it but we had to be fearless and um go ahead and go for it you have to be willing to take a risk on a big stage and that's exactly what our program did on Wednesday night and I think our team walked away with the confidence now to go into the season and and be more willing to to put that on the court I think her comments will forever resonate with me she's one of my number one hyp men my twin sister and how you wanted you know you wanted a name for yourself and you wanted to be a part of something big like you're doing it and she she posted it she's like you're living out the [Music] dream [Music] hey tonight The Impossible will become possible and and I when I still say that I I I feel this emotion we did the impossible soing it all in coach huh are you soaking it all in we we've done we've dreamed big here tonight we really dreamed big and and uh again I think Kennedy or wrote me a note today and said coach tonight we'll do impossible will be possible louder we did [Music] it