By: Maret Elgren, Reporter
OMAHA, Neb. – The Sea of Red will once again return to Memorial Stadium this August, but unlike every other year, it won’t be because of Husker football.
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln announced last week that its legendary football facility will serve as the host for Volleyball Day in Nebraska on August 30. The event will host interstate matches between the University of Nebraska-Kearney and Wayne State College in the afternoon, and an evening primetime match between the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the University of Nebraska at Omaha.
Omaha Volleyball Associate Head Coach Kelly O’Connor said the inspiration for the event came after Wisconsin set the National Collegiate Athletic Association women’s volleyball attendance record of 18,755 spectators when the Badgers hosted the Huskers on September 18.
“Nebraska is the pinnacle of volleyball,” O’Connor said, “and Coach Cook’s motto is to dream bigger, and so somebody set a precedent and he wants to dream bigger than everything that’s happening.”
John Cook, who has been at the helm of Nebraska Volleyball for over two decades, is credited by O’Connor as being a champion of women. This “dream big” attitude led to a desire to elevate women’s volleyball to the largest platform the state has to offer.
Omaha senior and outside hitter Rachel Fairbanks said that she is excited to be a part of something that has never been done before in the sport’s history.
“It’s a unique experience that none of us have ever done and no one has,” Fairbanks said. “I know we’re all very blessed to be a part of it.”
Fairbanks said that, for many of her homegrown teammates, playing at Memorial will mean just a little bit more.
“Nebraska is just the volleyball place to be,” Fairbanks said, “and to play in Memorial, that’s such a home spoken place for a lot of kids in Nebraska.”
O’Connor said that when the match was first announced, there were many strong reactions among team members, most notably from the players who were born and raised in the state.
“We have a lot of Nebraska kids on our roster,” O’Connor said, “and they get to play in a place that they watched every Saturday.”
Additionally, O’Connor said that the interstate match allows for the opportunity for many of her players and Nebraska’s players to reunite, as many of them played with or against each other in high school or at the club level. Both O’Connor and Fairbanks said, however, that they still plan to approach the match the same.
“I think they’re excited,” O’Connor said, “but we’ll attack it like it’s any other game and see what happens.”
Fairbanks said that there will need to be some obvious adjustments due to the match being contested outdoors in a facility meant for football, but said that she plans to give it her best and see where it takes her and her team.
“It’s going to be exciting, lots of nerves,” Fairbanks said, “but the volleyball is going to be the same: Just go out, do your best and see what happens.”
Above all else, Fairbanks, along with the rest of her team, is excited and thankful to be able to do what she loves in front of the largest home crowd imaginable.
