NCAA President Charlie Baker on the growing popularity of women's volleyball
Nebraska and Omaha shattered the all-time record for DI women's college volleyball attendance when 92,003 fans packed Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska, home of the Cornhuskers football team, on Aug. 30, 2023. In fact, the regular season match officially broke the world record for attendance at any women’s sporting event, surpassing the 91,648 in attendance at a 2022 UEFA Women's Champions League match between Barcelona and Wolfsburg at Camp Nou. Attendance records kept falling in 2023. On Wednesday, Sept. 13, Wisconsin beat Marquette at the Fiserv Center, home of the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks, to break the indoor regular season record at 17,037.
Here are the six DI college volleyball games with the most attendance. You can see all DI, DII, and DIII volleyball attendance records and averages in this .PDF.
1. 92,003: Nebraska defeated Omaha on Aug. 30, 2023 at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska
"Volleyball Day in Nebraska" included an exhibition match between DII schools Wayne State and Nebraska-Kearney, before Nebraska and Omaha took center stage at the home of Cornhuskers football.
2. 18,755: Wisconsin defeated Nebraska on Dec. 18, 2021 at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio in the NCAA final
Jamie Schwaberow | NCAA Photos
![Wisconsin celebrates is 2021 title in front of an NCAA-record 18,755 fans.]()
3. 18,516: Nebraska defeated Florida on Dec. 16, 2017 at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo. in the NCAA final
4. 18,374: Florida defeated Stanford and Nebraska defeated Penn State on Dec. 14, 2017, at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo. in the NCAA semifinals
Jamie Schwaberow | NCAA Photos
![Florida's Carli Snyder runs onto the court before the 2017 NCAA semifinals]()
5. 18,113: Stanford defeated Nebraska on Dec. 15, 2018, at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minn., in the NCAA final
6. 17,808: Stanford defeated BYU and Nebraska defeated Illinois on Dec. 13, 2018, in the NCAA semifinals at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minn.
Jamie Schwaberow | NCAA Photos
![Nebraska celebrates its victory against Illinois in the 2017 semifinals.]()
Here is the list of the top 30 most attended women's college volleyball games from the NCAA DI record book.
Scroll to the right to view the entire table.
| ATT. | WINNER | OPPONENT | SCORE | DATE | ARENA | CITY | STATE | TOURNAMENT ROUND | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 92,003 | Nebraska* | Omaha | 3-0 | Aug. 30, 2023 | Memorial Stadium | Lincoln | NE | |
| 2 | 18,755 | Wisconsin | Nebraska | 3-2 | Dec. 18, 2021 | Nationwide Arena | Columbus | OH | NCAA final |
| 3 | 18,516 | Nebraska | Florida | 3-1 | Dec. 16, 2017 | Sprint Center | Kansas City | MO | NCAA final |
| 4 | 18,374 | Florida | Stanford | 3-2 | Dec. 14, 2017 | Sprint Center | Kansas City | MO | NCAA semifinals |
| Nebraska | Penn St. | 3-2 | NCAA semifinals | ||||||
| 5 | 18,113 | Stanford | Nebraska | 3-2 | Dec. 15, 2018 | Target Center | Minneapolis | MN | NCAA final |
| 6 | 17,808 | Stanford | BYU | 3-0 | Dec. 13, 2018 | Target Center | Minneapolis | MN | NCAA semifinals |
| Nebraska | Illinois | 3-2 | NCAA semifinals | ||||||
| 7 | 17,561 | Nebraska | Texas | 3-0 | Dec. 19, 2015 | CHI Health Center | Omaha | NE | NCAA final |
| 8 | 17,551 | Nebraska | Kansas | 3-1 | Dec. 17, 2015 | CHI Health Center | Omaha | NE | NCAA semifinals |
| Texas | Minnesota | 3-1 | NCAA semifinals | ||||||
| 9 | 17,430 | Stanford | Texas | 3-2 | Dec. 18, 2008 | CHI Health Center | Omaha | NE | NCAA semifinals |
| Penn St. | Nebraska | 3-2 | NCAA semifinals | ||||||
| 10 | 17,345 | Stanford | Texas | 3-1 | Dec. 17, 2016 | Nationwide Arena | Columbus | OH | NCAA final |
| 11 | 17,209 | Nebraska | Stanford | 3-1 | Dec. 16, 2006 | CHI Health Center | Omaha | NE | NCAA final |
| 12 | 17,037 | Wisconsin | Marquette | 3-1 | Sept. 13, 2023 | Fiserv Forum | Milwaukee | WI | |
| 13 | 17,014 | Nebraska | UCLA | 3-1 | Dec. 14, 2006 | CHI Health Center | Omaha | NE | NCAA semifinals |
| Stanford | Washington | 3-0 | NCAA semifinals | ||||||
| 14 | 16,833 | Florida | Wisconsin* | 3-2 | Sept. 16, 2022 | Kohl Center | Madison | WI | |
| 15 | 16,670 | Stanford | Minnesota | 3-1 | Dec. 15, 2016 | Nationwide Arena | Columbus | OH | NCAA semifinals |
| Texas | Nebraska | 3-0 | NCAA semifinals | ||||||
| 16 | 16,531 | Wisconsin | Louisville | 3-2 | Dec. 16, 2021 | Nationwide Arena | Columbus | OH | NCAA semifinals |
| Nebraska | Pittsburgh | 3-1 | NCAA semifinals | ||||||
| 17 | 16,290 | Stanford | Wisconsin | 3-0 | Dec. 21, 2019 | PPG Paints Arena | Pittsburgh | PA | NCAA final |
| 18 | 16,448 | Texas | Oregon | 3-0 | Dec. 15, 2012 | KFC Yum! Center | Louisville | KY | NCAA final |
| 19 | 15,797 | Nebraska | Creighton* | 3-2 | Sept. 7, 2022 | CHI Health Center | Omaha | NE | |
| 20 | 15,119 | Nebraska | Florida | 3-0 | Dec. 10, 2005 | CHI Health Center | Omaha | NE | NCAA regional final |
| 21 | 14,975 | Penn St. | Washington | 3-0 | Dec. 19, 2013 | KeyArena | Seattle | WA | NCAA semifinals |
| 22 | 14,779 | Penn St. | Wisconsin | 3-1 | Dec. 21, 2013 | KeyArena | Seattle | WA | NCAA final |
| 23 | 14,661 | Stanford | Minnesota | 3-0 | Dec. 19, 2019 | PPG Paints Arena | Pittsburgh | PA | NCAA semifinals |
| Wisconsin | Baylor | 3-1 | NCAA semifinals | ||||||
| 24 | 14,489 | Nebraska | UCLA | 3-0 | Dec. 9, 2005 | CHI Health Center | Omaha | NE | NCAA regional semifinals |
| Florida | Louisville | 3-0 | NCAA regional semifinals | ||||||
| 25 | 14,299 | Penn St. | Stanford | 3-0 | Dec. 20, 2008 | CHI Health Center | Omaha | NE | NCAA final |
| 26 | 14,032 | Penn St. | California | 3-0 | Dec. 18, 2010 | Sprint Center | Kansas City | MO | NCAA final |
| 27 | 14,022 | Nebraska | *Creighton | 3-2 | Sept. 6, 2018 | CHI Health Center | Omaha | NE | |
| 28 | 13,870 | UCLA | *Nebraska | 3-2 | Sept. 13, 2009 | Bob Devaney Sports Center | Lincoln | NE | |
| 29 | 13,747 | UCLA | Illinois | 3-1 | Dec. 17, 2011 | Alamodome | San Antonio | TX | NCAA final |
| 30 | 13,631 | Penn St. | Stanford | 3-2 | Dec. 15, 2007 | Power Balance Pavilion | Sacramento | CA | NCAA final |
| 31 | 13,412 | *Nebraska | LSU | 3-0 | Sept. 12, 2008 | Bob Devaney Sports Center | Lincoln | NE | |
| 32 | 13,396 | *Nebraska | Hawaii | 3-0 | Oct. 21, 2007 | Bob Devaney Sports Center | Lincoln | NE | |
| 33 | 13,385 | Oregon | Penn St. | 3-1 | Dec. 13, 2012 | KFC Yum! Center | Louisville | KY | NCAA semifinals |
| Texas | Michigan | 3-2 | NCAA semifinals |
* Host institution.
All arenas listed under current (or most recent) name.
