Members of the Skyline High School volleyball team traveled to Lincoln, Nebraska at summer’s end to experience GameDay at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln as part of a world record-setting event.
The Pratt-Skyline team and coaches got to watch college volleyball action as Wayne State versed Nebraska Kearney, and then the main event of Nebraska against Omaha on Wednesday, August 30. These were no ordinary matches, though. Play took place in Memorial Stadium in front of a crowd of 92,003 fans. This broke the world record for most in attendance at a women’s sporting event. Following the volleyball competitions, the attendees were treated to a concert by country music star, Scotty McCreery.
This experience for the Skyline volleyball team was no accident. It took months of pre-planning by their coaches who love Nebraska sports.
“I have been a Husker fan since I was a kid, and it helps that Coach Poland is also a fan,” said Skyline volleyball head coach Lori Anschutz. “When they released the information on it back in April, I went straight to administration and brought up the idea of taking the girls. They supported the idea, so I started working on tickets. I had to be ready to purchase them as soon as they became available as they sold out within the first day. I knew as soon as I saw what they were doing it would be an amazing opportunity and was excited we were able to snag enough tickets.”
The team returned to school by midday, Thursday, August 31, a little tired but with great stories of the trip and memories to last a lifetime.
The Skyline volleyball team kicked off their season with wins against South Barber and Attica on August 26, then hosted a multi-team tournament in Pratt on September 2, utilizing their own gym and the Dennis Lesh Arena at Pratt Community College.
The Thunderbirds beat Medicine Lodge 20-25, 25-19 and 25-22. They moved on to defeat Pawnee Heights as well, 25-20 and 25-15. Unfortunately, they fell to Bucklin 16-25 and 18-25 to finish the day. Junior Grace Hoffman received All-Tournament Team honors.
