Wisconsin-Texas rematch headlines a Labor Day volleyball showcase at Fiserv Forum
TAMPA, Fla. – The Wisconsin Badgers will return to Milwaukee's Fiserv Forum next season and three of the top NCAA volleyball programs will join them.
The four-team showcase event, which was put together by Fox Sports and Intersport, will be played Sept. 1-2 and broadcast to a national television audience. Texas, the Badgers' opponent in the national semifinals Thursday night, will be there. So will Stanford, which was a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament, and Big Ten rival Minnesota.
Two of the matches will be shown on Fox. The other two will be shown on FS1.
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Here are the parings. Game times and ticket information will be announced later.
Sunday, Sept. 1
Wisconsin vs. Texas
Minnesota vs. Stanford
Monday, Sept. 2
Wisconsin vs. Stanford
Minnesota vs. Texas
The matchup will mark the second straight season the Badgers play at Fiserv Forum. They faced Marquette there Sept. 13 and played in front of a crowd of 17, 037, the largest indoor crowd to see a regular-season volleyball match.
“This is going to be an awesome event,” Wisconsin head coach Kelly Sheffield said in a news release. “Big-time teams on a big-time stage. The 2024 volleyball season is going to be shot out of a cannon!”
The event will attempt to build on the growing interest in volleyball as spectator sport and ratinigs draw.
Wisconsin, meanwhile, played in a front of handful of record crowds on the road this season. In addition to Marquette, that list included Florida, Arkansas, Northwestern and Nebraska (indoor).
UW has also been a hit in the ratings. The No. 1 vs. No. 2 showing it had with Nebraska drew 612, 000 viewers. UW’s match with Minnesota on Oct. 29, which was shown after Green Bay Packers vs. Minnesota Vikings football game, drew 1.659 million viewers.
“There is an obvious growing appetite for the sport of volleyball, evidenced by roaring attendance numbers and record-breaking television ratings. It will be an incredible sight to help further amplify the sport with an elite early season showcase on network television,” Mark Starsiak, vice president at Intersport said in a press release. “We’re fortunate to have an eager partner in Fox, four immensely talented programs with passionate fan bases, a world-class host venue in Fiserv Forum and the support of the American Volleyball Coaches Association to carve an incredible foundation for this event that we envision as a staple on the college volleyball calendar for years to come.”
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin-Texas part of Fiserv Forum volleyball on Labor Day weekend
