Good article in Star Tribune today about the boom in women's volleyball. Even with the Gophers missing the Final Four the Target Arena is expected to be full this weekend. Some interesting comments in the article about HS girls participation numbers.
http://www.startribune.com/volleyba...-s-sports-takes-over-target-center/502643342/
http://www.startribune.com/volleyba...-s-sports-takes-over-target-center/502643342/
Okay, that's good for the midwest but with all of the Big 10 strength it's not necessarily good for the Cyclones at all.The sport has grown nationally from one dominated by West Coast schools to one balanced in power by the Midwest, especially with the Big Ten’s burgeoning talent.
This probably gets batted around more in the WBB threads than the VB ones but it is so true.In Minnesota, volleyball has become far more popular for high school girls than basketball, with 16,458 participants last school year compared with 12,206 for basketball, according to a nationwide database.
Last year’s Final Four drew sellout crowds of 18,000-plus to the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo. The championship match — Nebraska over Florida — drew more than 1 million viewers on ESPN2, according to Sports Media Watch.
Target Center holds 18,104 for volleyball, and there are standing room only tickets available for Thursday, when No. 1 Stanford plays BYU, followed by Nebraska vs. Illinois. Saturday’s championship match is sold out.