Team Tampa Bay's Take by Joey Johnston: A Record-Setting Night

By Joey Johnston

Red is the color of passion. It means love. In a swashbuckling era a few centuries ago around Tampa Bay, pirates raised red flags to signify an imminent attack.

It’s how Thursday night began as the four NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Championship teams entered Amalie Arena on the red carpet.

Perhaps fittingly, Sunday’s national-championship match might resemble a shopping mall parking lot filled with fire trucks or endless bushels of Plant City strawberries.

Lots and lots of red.

But it’s not the red-on-red final that everyone anticipated.

Make room for the burnt orange.

It’s Nebraska vs. Texas playing for a national title as the ABC-TV cameras get positioned to document history.

“We have an awesome championship match,’’ said Tampa Bay Sports Commission executive director Rob Higgins, whose organization is hosting the event along with the University of South Florida. “We think it’s going to be a great draw for the viewers all over the country and the world. And we are super excited to get this kind of exposure for our hometown.’’

Thursday night’s national semifinals drew an NCAA indoor volleyball record of 19,598 and it’s expected that Sunday will set an attendance record for the championship match.

After the remarkable crowd of 92,003 that assembled for Nebraska’s August volleyball match in a football stadium, the Cornhuskers have seemed destined for this championship moment. Nebraska is 33-1.

It’s ridiculous to paint Texas (27-4) as a “Cinderella.’’ But the Longhorns, even as defending national champions, were one point away from elimination in the region semifinals. Texas began the season at 5-3. And it was the outlier, the lone team that wasn’t a No. 1 regional seed in this Final Four field.

Surprise!

“A little different story than people expected, right?’’ said Texas fan Steve Shields of Dallas, after the Longhorns pulled the mini-upset.

Now it’s Nebraska-Texas looking to push the fast-rising sport of college volleyball over the edge in popularity.

When Nebraska swept Pittsburgh 25-20, 25-23, 25-17 — amid the resounding chants of “GO BIG RED! GO BIG RED!’’ — at times, you wondered whether you were in Lincoln or Tampa.

“Nebraska fans are no joke,’’ Cornhuskers middle blocker Bekka Allick said. “They’ll show out, whether we’re at Rutgers, California, Hawaii … even Brazil, I think we even had some fans.

“It’s nice to be in an environment where you’re supported, where you see family and friends.’’

For Nebraska players, their friends came from places such as Omaha, Bellevue, Grand Island, Wahoo, Alma, Falls City, Hastings, Kearney, Broken Bow and Valentine.

But the Cornhuskers were also represented by regions all over the country. Steve and Linda Thaler arrived from Grand Rapids, Mich., adopted Nebraska fans because a family member lives in Omaha. It’s their third Final Four.

“Nebraska volleyball is fearsome,’’ Linda Thaler said. “I love those players.’’

“There’s nothing like it,’’ said Steve Thaler, wearing a red Nebraska-themed Christmas hat and a necklace of blinking holiday lights. “When I left the hotel today, all I saw was red. Nebraska red, everywhere you looked. The Cornhuskers have taken over this town.’’

The Cornhusker mania and fandemonium are a common backdrop for Nebraska matches. But for Cook, the fan support never gets old.

“Husker Nation showed up,’’ Cook said. “There’s no place like Nebraska. You guys can put that in the headline.’’

If Texas volleyball has its way, Sunday’s headlines will read a bit differently. After dispatching the Wisconsin Badgers — the only team to defeat Nebraska this season — in four sets, why not Texas?

Early Thursday night, a Nebraska fan held up a hand-made sign:

Even Santa Picks Nebraska.

It got air time, of course, because the first letter of each word was in boldface, spelling out E-S-P-N.

Nebraska or Texas?

Texas or Nebraska?

Either way, it’s delicious theatre for the sport and a perfect finale for a record-setting NCAA volleyball championship game.

“We had a rough start to our season,’’ Texas coach Jerritt Elliott said. “But this team has so much toughness. And we’re still playing.’’

Will the town be painted red?

Or burnt orange?

As they like to say on ABC-TV … stay tuned!