Volleyball To Play Home Matches At Ames High School
- Thread starter ChrisMWilliams
- Start date
No they won't. They will either 1) stay in the NU Coliseum, 2) play in a reconfigured Devaney Center, or 3) build a new VB-only arena in the Haymarket area. They will not be playing in the new arena being built for basketball.
I didnt read the entire thread, so I dont know if this has been mentioned, but I talked to a former vball player and she said they are actually kinda excited about the small gym. Its the same "Bucs arena vs Wells Fargo arena" effect. If you have 2000 fans, better to have them in a small gym that is absolutely rockin, as opposed to a large gym that looks empty.
Absolutely - look at UNI over the years and their success in VB - they played in the West Gym until moving to the McLeod Center, which was an absolute dump, but it was small and loud. It forces players from opposing teams to make changes to their games, because the space is smaller, the room on the sidelines is smaller, the crowd is closer to the court, etc.
I went to an ISU-UNI WBB game at West Gym in 1998. It was packed and the crowd was split evenly between the two teams. That was an awesome atmosphere, even though it was so low-rent that the shotclocks were sitting on the floor in the corners.
That's fine, but when I ran into the VB team as they were passing out drinking water last Sat., they sure didn't sound too excited about playing at Ames High. Big-time programs don't play in places like that. Especially since we averaged 2700 fans per match last year, were hoping to reach 3000 this year, and Ames High holds 2000. The Neb match will be a mess.
I fail to understand why VB can't move their matches back into Hilton by the first part of November, as JP seems to think it'll be ready for basketball games by then:
Ames Tribune > Ames Tribune > News
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CycloneErik
Well-Known Member
Agreed. Between their fans and ours, we could sell that thing out for their last trip out here (unless we continue as a non-conference rivalry).
CycloneErik
Well-Known Member
Possibly. But I personally don't think moving any of the matches out of Ames is a good idea, save perhaps the NU match.
Even the Texas match last season only drew 3700. It'd suck to lose those fans, but I'd guess that we'd see a substantial drop off moving to DSM anyway.
What'd be really nice is to swap dates with Nebraska. Our visit to Lincoln is Oct 30. I'd hope we would be pretty close to having Hilton together by then....
Boone is probably the same size or smaller, Ankeny would be smaller since the bleachers would be on the end and you would end up with a strange seating arrangement. I don't think the team really wants to be shuffled around to a different court, you will lose your home court advantage. My guess after playing on a certain court, you learn the "feel" of the court. Moving to a new gym you are back at square one. Other issue you run into is parking, both those campuses have night classes going and the parking lots close to the buildings would be full of students. I know from 11 years of teaching night classes at Ankeny, the parking is pathetic. Boone is a much smaller campus, so I'm sure that parking wouldn't be any better
https://go.dmacc.edu/campusrecreation/Pages/gymnasium.aspx
red lines are the volleyball court in Ankeny
The Ames High gym also has standing room up on the concourse at the east end and their second gym is attached so they can just raise the divider and have more seating there. The gym is wireless so the schools SID staffs and the media will be able to function. It's not Hilton but for a last minute fallback plan, it could be worse
Iowa State should buy Ames High bleachers for the West End of the Gym where that curtain is. It'd help us sell more seats and would be a thank you to Ames High for letting us use the gym.
Okay, thanks for that info; I was just speculating, but your info demonstrates that the juco option would not work.
I say, "Pack the Jack!"
Play it outdoors, under the lights, tailgaiting, student section going nuts. Bring the band, Brign the cheer squads, Bring the cannon after every point, Bring 20,000 or so of your most rowdy friends, Let them in for free! Bring ESPN, just for a curiosity if nothing else.
I say "use what you got," and bring in the recruits to see what a cyclone really looks like. Shoot, might as well even sing "that ND song" before the third set.
On second thought, awe shucks, just play at Ames high, that will be real nice.
Play it outdoors, under the lights, tailgaiting, student section going nuts. Bring the band, Brign the cheer squads, Bring the cannon after every point, Bring 20,000 or so of your most rowdy friends, Let them in for free! Bring ESPN, just for a curiosity if nothing else.
I say "use what you got," and bring in the recruits to see what a cyclone really looks like. Shoot, might as well even sing "that ND song" before the third set.
On second thought, awe shucks, just play at Ames high, that will be real nice.
