AUSTIN (KXAN) — College volleyball has exploded in popularity over the past few years. Nebraska held a match in its football stadium in 2023, drawing a world-record crowd of 92,003 to help catapult the sport into the national spotlight.
Surely, the back-to-back national champion Texas Longhorns could max out Moody Center for a match, right? Head coach Jerritt Elliott thinks so.
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During a news conference Monday, Elliott was asked if there were any plans to play some matches in Moody, which can be configured to seat almost 16,000 people if the upper level is opened like it is for concerts. For UT men’s and women’s basketball, the capacity is around 10,000, but Elliott thinks there’s enough demand to go all the way.
“We’re looking to play there next year,” he said. “We have the following now. Basically, every one of our games is sold out, and now there’s a supply and demand issue. My phone is blowing up a lot more now for people trying to find tickets and wanting to be part of the game.”
Elliott mentioned three potential opponents for Moody matches — perennial powers Stanford and Wisconsin along with Lone Star Showdown rival Texas A&M. He hasn’t nailed down any dates or many details yet, but he’d love to get a nonconference match with either the Cardinal or Badgers and a conference match with the Aggies.
What makes Gregory Gym, the current home for Longhorn volleyball, such a great place to watch a match is its intimacy. With a listed capacity of around 4,000, it gets loud and rowdy and fans are almost on top of the action. Originally built in 1930, the venue underwent renovations in 1997 to modernize it and more than 5,000 fans crammed in for a 2022 NCAA regional final match against Ohio State to set an attendance record.
In its first two SEC matches, Texas helped draw record crowds. The Aggies and Longhorns faced off to open the SEC slate Sept. 27 at Reed Arena in College Station, and a crowd of 9,236 saw Texas take a 3-1 win. It’s currently the highest-attended NCAA volleyball match in the state of Texas, but Elliott wants the record to live in Austin.
“If (Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte) opens it all up, I think we can get 16,000 in Moody,” Elliott said, “but if not, we could go 10,000.”
Texas moved to 2-0 in conference play Sept. 29 with a 3-0 win over Louisiana State in Baton Rouge, and that match also set an attendance record. Almost 4,000 fans, 3,885 to be exact, watched the Tigers and Longhorns inside the Maravich Center to set the venue’s mark for a volleyball match.
The No. 7 Longhorns (7-3, 2-0 SEC) have won four consecutive matches and host South Carolina (9-3, 0-1) in the first-ever SEC volleyball match at Gregory Gym. The match is set to start at 6:30 p.m.