Record Breaking 6,024 for VB Game

[1stThings1st]

Lets hope there is more than one window open in the ticket office and more than two concessions open for this great game. I am sure the facilities people will plan on serving 5,000 to 7,000. Won't they?

[1972Shocker]

Lets hope there is more than one window open in the ticket office and more than two concessions open for this great game. I am sure the facilities people will plan on serving 5,000 to 7,000. Won't they?

I would love to see a crowd like that, but our top 5 attended home MVC matches which includes 2 vs UNI, 2 vs MSU and 1 vs Bradley drew in the range of 3,000 - 3,300. So, unless the advance ticket sales are heavy my guess is the facilities people will be ready for a crowd in the 3,000 to 3,500 range. (Which I'm sure would disappoint most of us diehards if we don't exceed that.)

Hopefully, the advance ticket sales will be very strong.

Also, to get that kind of a crowd will probably require a very strong student turnout.

I've been as disappointed as anyone that our attendance seems to have leveled off and (if you discard the KSU match) has perhaps even dropped from last year's record of 2,083 per home match and the 2005 average of 1,998 per home match. So far this year, ex-KSU we are averaging 1,860 per home match.

I have mixed feelings regarding Shocker Nation's support of the VB team. On the one hand, we have come a long, long way in a relatively short time thanks to Lambo and staff. We are coming off of a Top 15 finish in attendance in 2005 and a Top 10 finish in 2006 and we are presently in the Top 10 so far this year. If KSU was the only match anyone attended this year, 2007 would finish as the 5th best total attendance in school history. In 2002 the Shocks drew a season total of 6,010, 5th best in school history coming into this year. 1997 is 10th best at 3,885. Hopefully, we at least beat that in the upcoming MSU match. We are now drawing close to 30,000 fans per year.

On the other hand, I sometimes wonder why we don't draw better. I realize VB is not Football or Men's Basketball and there are many Shocker Nation diehards who simply have no interest in women's sports in general and VB in particular. Not much you can do to change that. I also realize that MVC scheduling is not particularly fan friendly. Still, with the quality of the product Lambo and his staff is putting on the court and the entertainment value received for the dollars spent, I was hoping for even better growth in the fan base. With the quality of this year's team, which Lambo himself says rivals the 2005 squad, I certainly was not expecting a decrease in attendance (ex-KSU). I suppose higher gas prices and higher season ticket prices have taken their toll.

However, the lack of student support simply is a mystery to me. I wish one of the Shocker Maniacs would post an explanation of why this is so.

My bottom line is that Shocker Nation has proved to me that they are not quite ready to support the VB program in larger numbers at this time. Perhaps several strong showings in the NCAA Tournament (i.e. Sweet 16 appearances or better) might give us the boost we need. Easier said than done considering the quality of VB at the top of the MVC and the lack of respect for that quality by the NCAA selection committee which makes getting into the Tournament a tough, tough proposition.

On Sunday, I do plan to e-mail everyone in my address book who might be a candidate to attend the MSU match with a heads up about the importance of that match and, of course, the $1 admission. However, if anyone is adverse to having a good time, then they should not attend.

:posterwu: :goshocks: :posterwsu:

[SpanglerFan316]

Lets hope there is more than one window open in the ticket office and more than two concessions open for this great game. I am sure the facilities people will plan on serving 5,000 to 7,000. Won't they?

I would love to see a crowd like that, but our top 5 attended home MVC matches which includes 2 vs UNI, 2 vs MSU and 1 vs Bradley drew in the range of 3,000 - 3,300. So, unless the advance ticket sales are heavy my guess is the facilities people will be ready for a crowd in the 3,000 to 3,500 range. (Which I'm sure would disappoint most of us diehards if we don't exceed that.)

Hopefully, the advance ticket sales will be very strong.

Also, to get that kind of a crowd will probably require a very strong student turnout.

I've been as disappointed as anyone that our attendance seems to have leveled off and (if you discard the KSU match) has perhaps even dropped from last year's record of 2,083 per home match and the 2005 average of 1,998 per home match. So far this year, ex-KSU we are averaging 1,860 per home match.

I have mixed feelings regarding Shocker Nation's support of the VB team. On the one hand, we have come a long, long way in a relatively short time thanks to Lambo and staff. We are coming off of a Top 15 finish in attendance in 2005 and a Top 10 finish in 2006 and we are presently in the Top 10 so far this year. If KSU was the only match anyone attended this year, 2007 would finish as the 5th best total attendance in school history. In 2002 the Shocks drew a season total of 6,010, 5th best in school history coming into this year. 1997 is 10th best at 3,885. Hopefully, we at least beat that in the upcoming MSU match. We are now drawing close to 30,000 fans per year.

On the other hand, I sometimes wonder why we don't draw better. I realize VB is not Football or Men's Basketball and there are many Shocker Nation diehards who simply have no interest in women's sports in general and VB in particular. Not much you can do to change that. I also realize that MVC scheduling is not particularly fan friendly. Still, with the quality of the product Lambo and his staff is putting on the court and the entertainment value received for the dollars spent, I was hoping for even better growth in the fan base. With the quality of this year's team, which Lambo himself says rivals the 2005 squad, I certainly was not expecting a decrease in attendance (ex-KSU). I suppose higher gas prices and higher season ticket prices have taken their toll.

However, the lack of student support simply is a mystery to me. I wish one of the Shocker Maniacs would post an explanation of why this is so.

My bottom line is that Shocker Nation has proved to me that they are not quite ready to support the VB program in larger numbers at this time. Perhaps several strong showings in the NCAA Tournament (i.e. Sweet 16 appearances or better) might give us the boost we need. Easier said than done considering the quality of VB at the top of the MVC and the lack of respect for that quality by the NCAA selection committee which makes getting into the Tournament a tough, tough proposition.

On Sunday, I do plan to e-mail everyone in my address book who might be a candidate to attend the MSU match with a heads up about the importance of that match and, of course, the $1 admission. However, if anyone is adverse to having a good time, then they should not attend.

:posterwu: :goshocks: :posterwsu:

1972: You are a great contributer to SN and sound like a great person. However I found your post above to be depressing; it sounded a little defeatist to me. I have a very busy morning but I feel the need to reply. There is a small group (10-20?) of students who attend VB matches. They sit at the end of the court opposite where the band sits and several of them are Shocker Maniacs. There are male and female students in the group and they try to recruit other students. There is a running joke that the male students picked their seating location for the "view" but I'm told that they all get excited by the team's play. (I'm told that Sarah McGee is either really funny or "crazy" in a funny way.) I often sit near half-court with a couple other students. Of course, I wish a lot more students attended matches but I think inroads are (very) slowly being made. I also get frustrated by the small number of students but I am not discouraged. (PS These students never get "treats" - t-shirts, plastic ball, etc. thrown out by the team members or the cheer squad; these "treats" sail over the students heads (I'm told).)

I suspect that student attendance at the MSU-WSU match will not be reflected by advance ticket "sales" because students can just walk up to the ticket window and request a ticket. Thoughtful students may realize that there will be a line and might pick up tickets on Wednesday or Thursday (i.e. I might be wrong). I am trying to get more students interested in attending the match. One thing that will greatly harm attendance would be a loss this weekend. The loss of even one game might lower our Pablo ranking (#15 right now) and I think this high ranking is helpful in attracting fans. (If I were in charge of advertising and our Pablo was still in the Top 20, I would use this fact next week in the advertising.)

1972: Please keep up you good work. I have already promised to get tickets for the families of a few students and I'll keep working on "recruitment." :lol:

[WuDrWu]

Our numbers may be few but our passion is mighty.



In defference to what has been brought up more than once I am going to wait until Monday to discuss further the MSU and the ticket situation.

I hope everyone will be patient and not hold the delay against me.

I am going to enjoy the games this weekend, cheer on the ladies and listen to Mike.

:wsu_posters: :goshocks: :posterwu: :posterwsu:

[1972Shocker]

The 10-20 students that attend the matches are great. However, I am very disappointed in that turn out and it still remains a mystery to me why it is so small.

Are you telling me that the students will only come to matches if they are likely to catch a T-Shirt or Mini-Ball and then only if we are very highly ranked in a Poll the majority of students and fans have nor ever will hear of? Now that is depressing.

Defeatist attitude? Maybe, but sometimes you have to look at the facts and accept reality. I think we have a shot at approaching 5,000 for the MSU match, although there is nothing in our past history to indicate that will happen. Would love to see 500 students there also. Again nothing in our history to expect that will happen, but I guess it could. I think the key will be how aggressively the AD promotes the match next week.

However, how much do you spend and to what end? I thought if we could draw a very big crowd to the KSU match, which we did, that we would hook a big bunch of new fans. That obviously has not happened. Maybe we had to win that match, not just play well, to make that happen.

Also, I agree with you that we can not afford to stumble this weekend against either SIU or Evansville.

In any case, what I would like to see for our final 3 home matches is total attendance of 8,475 or an average of 2,825. I think that is doable considering 2 of those are the Big, Big MSU match next Friday and the Creighton match on Senior Night (November 10th).

That kind of attendance would do a couple of things. First, it would bring our average attendance (ex-KSU) up to last year's average of 2,083 per match and Second, I think such attendance would solidify our Top 10 ranking in attendance for the second year in a row.

We only need 5,372 to top 30,000 in season attendance for the 1st time in school history. That's pretty much a slam dunk (at least I hope it is).

:posterwu: :goshocks: :posterwsu:

[dregn]

As a shocker maniac up till this year I've always sat in that same section as were those students you mention currently sit. In the last 3 years I've probably caught 5-6 shirts personally and have seen plenty of goodies thrown there. I usually give them away to the little kids sitting near me. Those are the ones I want to get signed up as life long shocker fans. On nights with lower attendence when that section is pretty wide open then they usually don't throw stuff there, but I wouldn't either.

My suggestion to marketing last year and if they asked me again I'd say the same thing. Instead of letting the maniacs bring their card to get scanned at the info booth before the match, have the scanning take place at a random point in the match in the shocker maniac section. This would both clump the students together and prevent people from coming to get their card scanned and leaving.

I think if all the students who are there sat together it would suprise some people about the number of them who are currently spread out. I think it would create a better atmosphere. I think it would also result in more stuff getting thrown to them from the players.

[SpanglerFan316]

1972: Great points; I wish those fans at the KSU match would return. I will also admit that poor play by the Shocks (as in the UNI match) is discouraging to me. I do think the quality of our play influences the attendance and I think this is reasonable; I would attend more WBB games if the results were better and the style of play was even a little interesting. If Nebraska came in and swept us in VB but we played hard and with heart, I would be happy; we don't have to win every match.

[dregn]

I'd put the number of students there closer to 100-150 for the average match. There is the group of about 20 that sits were Spangler mentions. Then spread out in the normal student section are probably another 20-30. Usually 10-20 different athletes are there spread out. I know of one group of 10-15 that usually sit above the floor scoreboard on the student section side of the arena. On top of that I see many students I know spread out over the rest of the place.

[1972Shocker]

I'd put the number of students there closer to 100-150 for the average match. There is the group of about 20 that sits were Spangler mentions. Then spread out in the normal student section are probably another 20-30. Usually 10-20 different athletes are there spread out. I know of one group of 10-15 that usually sit above the floor scoreboard on the student section side of the arena. On top of that I see many students I know spread out over the rest of the place.

Seems like a reasonable guess.

Looking at the Shocker Maniac point standings to date the total attendance of Shocker Maniacs (who have bothered to have their cards scanned) has been 336 for an average of 31 per match.

No doubt basketball team members (men's and women's) and other athletes in attendance probably aren't worried about Shocker Maniac points.

I'm sure there are a number of other students in attendance who have not joined Shocker Maniacs.

However, an average of 31 Shocker Maniacs per match is still pretty weak IMHO.

[rrshock]

The Ath Dept needs to get out to the student groups and make sure they know how much their support is needed at contests. VB matches typically never interfered with my Weekend plans, due to the times they were played. Let's hope they wake up and show up this next weekend.

[SpanglerFan316]

The Ath Dept needs to get out to the student groups and make sure they know how much their support is needed at contests. VB matches typically never interfered with my Weekend plans, due to the times they were played. Let's hope they wake up and show up this next weekend.

Let me guess. Roll out of bed Saturday morning at 5PM, grab a bite to eat, go to volleyball at 7PM and then go to a party. This after a hard Friday "night" (until 6AM?) working on your "social life." :lol: (Just a joke. :whistle: )

[SpanglerFan316]

I going to get some lunch and then go back to checking the AVCA poll whenever I get a chance. I'm going to try to get free and pick up 50 VB tickets at Koch today; I already have promised some people tickets and I want to start handing them out.

Seriously, let's try to get 10K in Koch Arena this Friday. If we win on Friday, the MVC is essentially ours. This is a huge match and we need lots of fans. PLEASE!!!
:goshocks: :goshocks: :goshocks: :goshocks: :goshocks: :goshocks:

[1972Shocker]

I going to get some lunch and then go back to checking the AVCA poll whenever I get a chance. I'm going to try to get free and pick up 50 VB tickets at Koch today; I already have promised some people tickets and I want to start handing them out.

Seriously, let's try to get 10K in Koch Arena this Friday. If we win on Friday, the MVC is essentially ours. This is a huge match and we need lots of fans. PLEASE!!!
:goshocks: :goshocks: :goshocks: :goshocks: :goshocks: :goshocks:

Way to go!

I would say that if we win this Friday the MVC is ours to win or lose. We still have very tough opponents remaining in Creighton at home on Senior Night and at UNI the final weekend of the regular season.

Suggestion: When handing out your freebies try to get a commitment from the recipient that they will actually show up at the match.

:posterwu: :goshocks: :posterwsu:

[rrshock]

I really have a dilemna. Do I go to the VB match on Friday (if I'm not working) or go to the MBB game on Saturday? I can go to one or the other, but not both. What do I do?

[RoyalShock]

You can watch a game that means nothing or a game that means everything (in regards to a conference championship, anyway).

But I understand your dillema. Fortunately, we're going to both.