Welcome to the midwest.
They've shifted their whole state's identity to volleyball. It's the one thing they take state pride in. Used to be football. Now they hang on to that sellout record like grim death.
The thing is, it's not about living in Nebraska. If you ever lived in Nebraska. If your parents or grandparents lived in Nebraska, you basically root for the volleyball team. And their coach Terry Pettit was basically the Johnny Appleseed of volleyball for that state. They'll never have as much overall talent as Texas, because they don't have the population. But when every little girl dreams of playing volleyball for Nebraska, they sure produce a lot of talent for their size. And the support is absurd.
I attended the Oregon-Nebraska match last year in Eugene. They broke the attendance record by a huge amount. At least half the crowd was Nebraska fans. HC Ulmer acknowledged them when he addressed the crowd. I talked to a bunch of Nebraska fans who were there, and none of them came from Nebraska. They all traveled from all over the west coast, just wanting to watch their volleyball team play live, and watching them in Eugune was easier than going back to Lincoln. Prettier, too. It's a phenomenon.
No, I think that's just conference play.
Edit - Js1 with the right answer. Lost one set in conference play. Jeez.