MILWAUKEE — With the announcement that Marquette will host Wisconsin in women's volleyball at Fiserv Forum on Sept. 13, 2023, the explosion of volleyball in the state will be on full display.
"It's so good," Marquette Head Volleyball Coach Ryan Theis says. "I mean Wisconsin volleyball is amazing. Per capita in number of Division 1 players that go on to play, volleyball, youth sport numbers just through the roof. We've gone from 200 to 1,200 campers in nine years that I've been here, to walking into tournaments and seeing Marquette volleyball stuff all over the place, has been amazing. It's a huge sport in the state and people love to watch it here. I got grabbed seven times on the way to come down here, congrats coach and can't wait to watch more."
Wisconsin is the defending National Champion. Marquette is in the Sweet 16, so playing in bigger venues takes practice and time.
"Sightlines is a huge deal," Theis says. "It's very, very real in the sport of volleyball. What is your background, right? We play with a blue, white, and gray volleyball that shoots at you at 40 miles an hour over a 7.5-foot net. Right? So what's behind that? And you play in some venues where the walls are white, blue, and gray, and it's really hard to see."
Wisconsin has the record with 16,833 fans at the Kohl Center this year to watch a regular season game. Now they want a new mark at 17,300.
"Hopefully we get more than Wisconsin does," Theis says with a laugh. "I'm from here, right? So I'm Madison born and went to UW-Milwaukee. I never thought I'd coach a volleyball match in front of over 17,000 people. So for me, it means a lot."
The Carthage men's volleyball team is the two-time defending champion in Division Three. While UW-Eau Claire took the women's title in 2021. There's no doubt volleyball is growing and ready to go to another level in Wisconsin.
