The fans did their part. On a night when Oregon fans were asked to come out en masse to Matthew Knight Arena to break the Oregon volleyball attendance record, Duck supporters responded.
The Ducks didn’t just break the old record of 3,817, set in 2008 against Washington — they obliterated it. Taking advantage of a variety of promotions, 6,210 packed the Matthew Knight Arena stands. Once the crowd settled in, the entire lower bowl of the new arena was filled to capacity.@@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=4287&SPID=234&DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=205312988&DB_OEM_ID=500@@
And although the team wasn’t able to take care of its end, losing 3-0 to No. 4 Cal, the frenzied crowd created an electric atmosphere rarely seen in college volleyball.
“It’s probably the best atmosphere I’ve ever played in,” Oregon junior outside hitter Alaina Bergsma said. “It was really exciting, kind of a bummer we didn’t have a better outcome, but the crowd was definitely awesome.”
Opposing players and coaches were just as impressed. At one point, Cal outside hitter Tarah Murrey said the crowd grew so raucous that it became a deafening blur.
“In the beginning, it got so loud it just turned into silence,” Murrey said. “It was so loud.”
Cal head coach Rich Feller was also effusive in his praise, citing Oregon’s ability to draw so many fans one night after a football game.
“It’s really a credit to Jim (Moore) and the University of Oregon to show that they can bring a lot of people into a volleyball match, particularly after a Thursday night football game,” Feller said. “Getting people to come back two nights in a row to any athletic event, it’s great. We loved it. This is the kind of atmosphere we hope to always play in front of.”
The only damper on the record night was the team’s play. After coming up just short in the match’s first two sets, the Ducks folded in the third. Moore and the rest of the Ducks hope they showed enough to convince many of the fans in attendance to attend more games.
“This was awesome, it was fun, it was great,” Moore said. “This is what makes this place incredibly special. I hope we did enough in the first two games to bring some people back. It was disappointing to not compete in the end, but the atmosphere was just spectacular. They did everything they could to pull us into this.”