Melissa Rivera

Ada Rivera (10) demonstrates the abilities of female athletes as she prepares to spike a ball. Rivera was motivated by the Women’s Nebraska Volleyball Game to perform to the best of her abilities and was inspired by the attendance at the game.

The Women’s Nebraska Volleyball Game, held on August 30th, broke the record for female sports attendance with a historic 92,003 spectators, creating an immense buzz. Many came to believe that this historic game was a big development in the representation of female sports. The passionate female bulldog athletes here at Ayala have become even more motivated to leap into the expansion of women’s sports representation after the game. 

“Women’s sports don’t often have that great of an audience, so it’s really empowering to see that so many people went to the game,” volleyball player Ada Rivera (10) said. “I think it’s important because many people don’t enjoy female sports as much and tend to lean towards male sports. So this game shows how much better it is for female athletes to have more people come for better female empowerment.”

After hearing about the attendance, Rivera was inspired by the game and felt motivated to perform better as a female athlete at Ayala.

“I feel like the audience there just motivates me to think I could have a chance to make it to a sport in college knowing that the support will increase,” Rivera said. 

Active students like juniors Katie Trinh and  Amrita Sivanesan are big advocates of female sports representation at Ayala as they are co-presidents of the Project Lady Bulldogs Club which aims to create a positive mindset around women athletes throughout the campus.

“Men’s sports have been celebrated for much longer than female sports have,” Sivanesan said. “They are both equally important and deserve the same amount of recognition. Even though people may say men’s sports are more intense, women do the same amount of work men do.” 

Bringing recognition to female sports was something Sivanesn and Trinh always strived to do and with the incredible showing at the Nebraska game, women athletes are gaining acknowledgment among viewers.  

“We already know that women don’t get as much recognition as male sports,” Trinh said. “ The more attendance we get will impact the people around the world. Maybe someone will want to try a certain sport, so we will get more athletes attending and watching.”

The Women’s Nebraska Volleyball Game was a huge success and achievement in women’s sports, influencing female athletes around the world including the Ayala Bulldogs. 

“The more we get change [and] if we go step by step, we can make a big impact in the world in women’s sports,” Trinh said.