Louisville Nearing NCAA Volleyball Ticket Record
December 06, 2012 | Women's Volleyball
Dec. 6, 2012
NCAA Championship Central | Tickets | Youth Clinics | Bracket
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Recognized as a volleyball hub for years, Louisville is on the verge of setting a new attendance mark for an NCAA National Championship.
With one week to go before the nation's best volleyball descends on the Derby City, University of Louisville officials have announced that strong local support has pushed ticket levels to near-record highs for the 2012 NCAA Division I Volleyball National Championship held at the KFC Yum! Center on December 13 and 15.
"We have experienced incredible support from our community," said Julie Hermann, Executive Senior Associate Athletic Director. "Louisville has a tradition of hosting world class events and the volleyball championship will be no different."
There are still opportunities to purchase all-session tickets to the NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship finals. To see both the national semifinals and national championship match, a limited number of lower level seats are available for purchase at $62. In addition, upper level ticket packages begin at just $20 per ticket. Groups of 10 or more may receive special priced tickets as low as $15. Tickets can be purchased at www.ncaa.com/volleyball.
The largest crowd to see a NCAA Volleyball National Championship match is 17,430 paid fans in Omaha, Neb., on Dec. 17, 2006, for Nebraska's 3-1 defeat of Stanford. Louisville is expected to challenge that record and become just the fifth host site to eclipse the 13,000 attendance mark for the national championship match in the 32-year history of the event.
Hermann said the ticket sales are closing in on the national attendance mark, and the momentum has only grown over the past two weeks.
"Volleyball is a hot ticket in this town," Hermann said. "We want to show the NCAA how much we support college sports. Our success with this national championship sets a tone for bringing their biggest events to our stage."
The box office is not the only place where records are expected to be broken next week. The American Volleyball Coaches Association, which holds its annual convention at the host site every year, has seen conference registrations reach new heights.
"Louisville is a wonderful location for a mid-December convention," said AVCA Executive Director Kathy DeBoer. "The weather is moderate, the city is driving distance from much of the country, the facilities are fabulous and adjacent, and it's the heart of the volleyball-crazy Midwest. We'll have over 2,500 attendees at our convention and another 1,000 will come for the Under Armour All America Match and the Phenom College Prep Program. It will be our largest event ever."
The AVCA Convention begins on Wednesday, Dec. 12, at the Kentucky International Convention Center in the heart of downtown Louisville.
The KFC Yum! Center, which opened in 2010, has a capacity of 22,000. The largest crowd ever to witness a collegiate volleyball game in the `Ville was set earlier this season when Louisville defeated in-state rival Kentucky, 3-1, before 5,007 fans on Aug. 29.
Louisville, which has served as host for more than 50 NCAA and conference championship events over the past five years, is hosting their first NCAA national championship in volleyball. The NCAA women's volleyball semifinal matches will be played on Dec. 13 (7 p.m. ET and 9 p.m. ET) followed by the crowning of the national champion on Dec. 15 (7 p.m. ET) at the KFC Yum! Center. The weekend will also include youth clinics and many fun fan events.
The final four teams to advance to Louisville will be determined this weekend (Dec. 7 & 8) during NCAA Regional play in Austin, TX, Berkley, CA, Omaha, NE, and West Lafayette, IN. For more information on the NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship and to view the bracket, visit www.ncaa.com/volleyball.
