Raphaëlle Lacasse witnessed a historic moment. The kind of night that could last forever: 92,003 spectators attended the University of Nebraska women’s volleyball game on Wednesday night. An attendance record for a women’s event. The Montrealer still can’t believe it.
Lacasse plays on the University of Nebraska tennis team. After a freshman year at the University of Kansas, she moved a three-hour drive north to Nebraska. Mainly because the sports facilities are outstanding and the economics and finance program is “really good”.
She and her teammates arrived five minutes before the start of the meeting between her university and that of Omaha, a rival team of the same state, at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Nearly 100,000 people packed into a football stadium for a volleyball game. Jets flying through the sky, fireworks shooting from the ends of the stadium and the entrance of the players on the song Sirius of the Alan Parsons Project.
“It was something,” the athlete said, an hour before returning to class.
As of Wednesday, all classes and practices were canceled at the University of Nebraska. In other words, the school was closed. Just to make sure everyone is there for the most important game of the year.
“We haven’t stopped talking about it for several days. We were just waiting for that, ”explains the Montrealer.
According to the words of the second-year athlete, this match has been announced since May. And just hours after the tickets went on sale, everything was sold out. Like a Taylor Swift show.
On site, the response from the community was exceptional. She exceeded all expectations. “We had chills when we got home. It was full. It was full, full, full. We didn’t expect there to be so many people. It was crazy. It was extraordinary. We were speechless,” says Lacasse.
The Huskers won this historic game three sets to nil.
Lincoln is the capital of Nebraska. It is above all a university town. Where residents and students rub shoulders. “The only attraction of the city is the university, reveals the Quebecer with a laugh. Anything sports is really intense. When we walk in our team clothes, people stop to talk to us and ask us questions. »
This interest in the color carriers of the Huskers is explained in particular by the fact that there is no professional team in Nebraska, believes Lacasse. “Everyone thinks Nebraska is a backwater, but not Lincoln!” »
There, the university is a temple. And athletes are revered there.
The Huskers hold five national titles and are again this year among the best teams in the country.
Like in the movies, college athletes enjoy a certain status. For example, a cafeteria is reserved for them. “So everyone knows each other,” says the finance student.
Despite everything, there is a certain hierarchy within the sports center itself. In several American universities, football players are at the top of this scale of popularity. But not necessarily in Nebraska, where volleyball players are revered.
So much so that volleyball is as important as football?
“Anyway, [Wednesday], yes,” she replies. Looks like it was even bigger. It remains that it is a school of football, but volleyball is close, if not equal. »
At the center of this sea of people, Lacasse was caught up in the wave of love breaking over this packed stadium to see female athletes at work. As a young woman trying to find her place in this cruelly masculine world, she was galvanized by such enthusiasm.
“It warmed our hearts. It’s crazy how times change. Seeing so many people for a women’s team… I don’t even know how to explain it. It was touching to see that. For us, it was encouraging. I don’t know how to express myself, because we’ve never seen this before. And that it’s here at my university, I’m really proud of it. »
