IU volleyball draws large fan base

Despite having the least number of total spectators in the Big Ten season last year, IU’s fan base relative to its performance and the size of the stadium is one of the strongest in the conference.

“They’re a Big Ten crowd,” IU Coach Sherry Dunbar said of her fans. “You’ll see once the Big Ten season opens up we’ll get bigger and bigger crowds. They love a high level of volleyball, and we’ve always had good crowds.”

The team plays their games in University Gymnasium which has a seating capacity of 2,000, making it the conference’s second smallest stadium behind Michigan’s Cliff Keen Arena.

Despite being small in size, it more than makes up for the discrepancy with the amount of noise the facility produces, Dunbar said.

“I think it gets very loud in here,” Dunbar said. “This is one of those places where because of the low ceiling and how it’s shaped with the four stands right around the court, it can get extremely loud in here. We’ve definitely used that to our advantage in the past.”

Last year, IU drew 9,100 fans in Big Ten play, averaging 910 a game.
While this figure is the lowest in the conference, IU reveals itself as having one of the most loyal fan bases in the conference.

The IU fans have a huge impact on the action, senior right-side hitter Kelci Marschall said.

“I just absolutely love our fans,” Marschall said. “It’s so much fun to play in front of a crowd that gets into it with you and rides the roller coaster of the game with you, and I think it makes us play way better.”