After a decade of ranking among the nations best in attendance, the fans cheering for Illinois State volleyball have helped Redbird Arena earn a well-deserved reputation. Coaches who have visited Redbird Arena give it high marks for overall quality as well.
Research compiled after the 2001 season identified Illinois State as No. 6 in average home attendance (2,047) and No. 7 in total home attendance (288,623) over the past 10 years.
Hawaii was a runaway No. 1 in both categories, followed by Nebraska, Wisconsin, Florida, Illinois and Illinois State. Penn State, Pacific, Stanford and Texas round out the Top 10.
Just as volleyball players from high school to USA Olympic ranks have praised Redbird Arena, rival coaches give the 13-year-old home of Redbird volleyball rave reviews.
Southern Illinois Sonya Locke, who has made the most trips to Redbird Arena as a visitor, enjoys the crowd.
Their fans ... they truly appreciate the sport of volleyball, said Locke.
Florida States Todd Kress, who came as visiting coach while at Northern Illinois, agrees with Locke.
What makes Redbird Arena special is the knowledgeable fans, said Kress, who will bring his FSU team into Redbird Arena to open the 2002 season at 7 p.m. Friday in the Barker GMC Classic. They obviously pull for their Redbirds, but appreciate good play on both sides of the net.
Former Northern Iowa star player and current head coach Bobbi Petersen has a pretty good home-court advantage with solid fan support in West Gym. But she salutes the knowledge base of Redbird Arena faithful.
If there is a good play, they applaud no matter which team made it, said Petersen. The fans and the atmosphere make it one of the more exciting places to play.
Creighton coach Howard Wallace was a long-time assistant at Hawaii who traveled with the Rainbows to major ports of top college volleyball. Wallace also takes his Bluejay teams to play at Nebraska--another top 10 volleyball site. He likes the Redbird Arena fans, but sees the ambiance as more than that.
First, it is a quality venue in which to play--nice floor, good lighting, said Wallace. Second, the staff members know volleyball and are supportive of both the Redbirds and opponents. Third, the fans--and they are numerous--enjoy watching good volleyball. Ive been complimented numerous times as to the quality of our effort by fans and staff alike. Coaches appreciate that.
Southwest Missouri States Melissa Stokes echoed Wallaces remarks.
Redbird Arena is a great volleyball atmosphere, said Stokes. No. 1 because of the aesthetics. It really is a beautiful arena. I think No. 2 would be that ISU does a first class job of running an event there. No. 3, the fans are well-educated and into volleyball.
Illinois State coach Sharon Dingman, who visited Redbird Arena as head coach at Butler before coming to Normal in 2000, appreciates how it all helps her attract top opponents. Notre Dame plays every other year in Normal. Defending NCAA Champion Stanford will be in on Sept. 11. Former NCAA champion Nebraska highlights a planned 2003 schedule.
It certainly helps with scheduling, said Dingman, whose belief in aggressive scheduling has her team playing four ranked opponents in its first eight matches in 2002. A big part of getting Stanford this year and Nebraska in 03 is how they view Redbird Arena. The atmosphere and crowd are important; those teams want to be in a position to play for a national championship every year and want the experience of playing in front of a big crowd on the road. They want their players to experience the kind of atmosphere we have every night.
Its an experience Dingman thinks every college volleyball player would enjoy.
In my opinion, every college player should have the opportunity to play before a Redbird Arena crowd, said Dingman. One of the things that helps us schedule is our relationship with Notre Dame. They come every other year and theyre always a Top 20 or Top 25 team. With Nebraska coming next year, we have a lot of teams interested in coming here for our tournament.
The crowds are great, but its more than that ... our events people and marketing people do a very professional job of supporting volleyball. They make it all work.
So, as Redbird Arena bids to continue as one of the few volleyball home courts to averaged more than 2,000 fans per match, visiting coaches keep doing their bit to support the notion that Redbird Arena not only has plenty of fans ... it has plenty of class as well.
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Fanfare: Volleyballs Best Since 1992
Home Total Avg. Per
Rank Team Matches Attendance Match
1. Hawaii 198 1,135,495 5,735
2. Nebraska 167 614,507 3,680
3. Wisconsin 156 380,815 2,441
4. Florida 169 388,145 2,297
5. Illinois 139 287,198 2,066
6. Illinois State 141 288,623 2,047
7. Penn State 185 374,254 2,023
8. Pacific 149 292,472 1,963
9. Stanford 148 282,297 1,907
10. Texas 150 283,107 1,887
NOTE: Illinois State is one of only 10 NCAA volleyball programs to draw 250,000 or more in attendance from 1992-2001 and one of just seven NCAA programs to average above 2,000 per match over the last decade.
(results of a survey conducted by Illinois State Athletics Media Relations, Jan.-Feb., 2002, including annual national figures provided by the University of Wisconsin Athletics Media Relations Office.)
