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Nebraska Volleyball to Play Big Ten Opponent at Pinnacle Bank Arena in 2025

The Huskers look to break the newly set Big Ten attendance record next season when they play a conference match inside PBA, which seats more than 15,000.

Enrique Alvarez-Clary

Oct 21, 2023; Lincoln, NE, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers head coach John Cook during the first set against the Wisconsin Badgers.
Oct 21, 2023; Lincoln, NE, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers head coach John Cook during the first set against the Wisconsin Badgers. / Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

John Cook has more attendance records on the brain.

The Purdue Boilermakers may have fallen to the Huskers in five sets back on Oct. 11th, but they did beat Nebraska at something else. Playing Indiana on Oct. 19th, the Boilermakers packed 14,876 people inside Mackey Arena, the home of the Purdue basketball teams, breaking the attendance record for a Big Ten match set in 2004 when Illinois played Minnesota in front of a crowd of 10,927.

Not to be outdone, the Nebraska head coach aims to break that record in 2025.

While talking to Lauren Cook-West on their "Kicking Back with the Cooks" podcast on the Huskers Radio Network about the record set by Purdue, John Cook said, "Immediately I sent off a text to Troy (Dannen), our athletic director and said 'OK, game on. We gotta break this.'"

"Next year we'll definitely be going to PBA (Pinnacle Bank Arena) so we can get that record too," Cook said.

Cook continued, "We want to hold every record. I think our fans are fired up, so we'll have to play a Big Ten match in PBA arena."

Pinnacle Bank Arena is the home of the Nebraska men's and women's basketball teams and seats 15,500. The current PBA record for a volleyball match was set in 2016 when the US National team packed 10,213 fans inside the building.

Nebraska Cornhuskers guard Brice Williams (3) warms up before the game against the Penn State Nittany Lions at Pinnacle Bank
Feb 17, 2024; Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers guard Brice Williams warms up before the game against the Penn State Nittany Lions at Pinnacle Bank Arena. / Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

Nebraska also continues to push the limits of its current home arena, the Bob Devaney Sports Center. In a five-set thriller against Wisconsin last season, a new attendance mark of 9,198 was set.

Nebraska has been part of a number of attendance records, including the current world record for attendance at a women's sporting event (92,003) set on Aug. 30, 2023, when the Huskers played the University of Nebraska-Omaha at Memorial Stadium, the home of Nebraska Cornhuskers football.

The Nebraska Cornhuskers celebrate during a presentation after defeating the Omaha Mavericks at Memorial Stadium.
Aug 30, 2023; Lincoln, NE, USA; The Nebraska Cornhuskers celebrate during a presentation after defeating the Omaha Mavericks at Memorial Stadium. / Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

The Huskers have also participated in the top 11 most-attended women's volleyball events in NCAA history.

Before chasing more attendance records, the Huskers must continue a successful run in 2024. Nebraska is home this weekend to host Illinois on Friday and Michigan on Saturday.

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Enrique Alvarez-Clary
ENRIQUE ALVAREZ-CLARY

Enrique Alvarez-Clary, better known as Rico, is the Assistant Program Director at 93.7 The Ticket in Lincoln, Nebraska as well as the Executive Producer for the Supernovas Radio Network which broadcasts every Omaha Supernovas match during the inaugural season of the Professional Volleyball Federation. A native of Nebraska, Rico first graduated from the prestigious Bellevue West High School and went on to graduate from the University of Nebraska-Kearney where he also competed in Track & Field. Being behind the scenes for so long, Enrique has shifted into a more on-air role co-hosting the "Happy Hour" and lending his voice to many other shows on 93.7. Enrique focuses his coverage of Nebraska on football, volleyball, mens & womens basketball, softball, and track and field. When Enrique isn't covering Huskers Athletics you can find him hanging out with his wife Rachael and their two children Elliot (daughter) and Kade (son). Rico can be reached at rique2688@gmail.com or on Twitter/X @RadioRicoAC

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