BY ANDY BAGGOT
UWBadgers.com Insider
MADISON, Wis. —
 Lisa Boyd-Piekarski remembers her final home match with the Wisconsin volleyball team for a variety of fond reasons.
It was Nov. 30, 1990. The Badgers, fresh off winning the first Big Ten Conference championship in program history, made their NCAA tournament debut with a resounding three-set sweep of Illinois at the Field House.
It was a touchstone moment for Boyd-Piekarski, the first All-American in volleyball at UW, and her teammates, still great friends who hang out and travel together nearly three decades later.
It was also a bellwether moment for Wisconsin, which has played in two NCAA title matches, five Elite Eights and eight Sweet 16s since that breakthrough, becoming a national power and local attraction in the process.
Boyd-Piekarski, a middle blocker from Dalton, Illinois, said the atmosphere at her final home match with the Badgers was so incredible that she "didn't want us to win in three (sets) because I wanted to keep playing."
There's a unique reason for that.
The straight-set sweep of the Illini, 15-10, 15-9 and 15-10, came before a crowd of 10,935, which still ranks as the largest turnstile count in UW volleyball history.
The benchmark is worth revisiting as the Badgers
prepare to re-open portions of the upper deck of the Field House – three on each side for a total of six – bumping capacity from 6,012 to 7,052.
That seating capacity could put UW second in the nation for attendance. Nebraska, which seats 8,202 at the Devaney Center, led the nation last season with 17 sell outs crowds. Hawaii finished second, averaging 6,396 fans per match with Wisconsin coming in third at 5,980 fans.
The upper deck at the Field House hasn't been open since 2007 due mainly to building code concerns. Those issues have been addressed for the 88-year-old facility, which recently added air conditioning, a video board and modern headquarters for Wisconsin players and coaches.
Among Boyd-Piekarski's recollections from that milestone match nearly 28 years ago are things she couldn't do.
Like show up at the UW Athletic Ticket Office the afternoon of the match and buy extra tickets to augment her allotment as a student-athlete.
"They looked at me and said, 'Lisa, we're selling out,'" she said of ticket office personnel. "I couldn't believe it."
Something else Boyd-Piekarski and her teammates were unable to do, once the match began, was hear.
Steve Lowe, the late UW coach, tried to call out plays from the bench area, but his voice was swallowed up by the constant din.
"We couldn't hear him at all," Boyd-Piekarski said. "We'd just talk among ourselves on the court as much as we could. The energy in that place was unbelievable."
The Field House has been home to UW boxing, men's and women's basketball and wrestling through the years. Volleyball took up full-time residence there in 1986.
"For a sporting event, it's almost an intimate place to play," Boyd-Piekarski said of a structure that's on the National Register of Historic Places.
Especially with the upper balcony available for viewing.
When Pete Waite coached the Badgers from 1999 to 2012 – he stepped down after amassing a program-best 305 wins and five trips to the NCAA Sweet 16 and beyond – he made a point of having recruits watch matches from the upper deck.
"It's such an awesome view from up there I think it turned the corner for some recruits," he said, mentioning four-time All-American setter Lauren Carlini as one of those smitten.
"You sit alone up there with somebody and walk those upper steps, it's intense just walking there much less looking down and seeing the court and how awesome that looks."
The second-largest crowd in Wisconsin volleyball history was the 10,326 that showed up for a Big Ten match with second-ranked Penn State Oct. 21, 2007.
The Badgers lost in five sets, but Waite, who now provides color commentary on radio broadcasts of UW matches, will long remember the energy generated by 130 bus-loads of area high school teams.
"There was a buzz so early you wouldn't believe it, so that was an amazing match," he said. "It didn't end the way we wanted, but it was an amazing volleyball game."
What was it like coaching in such an environment?
"It's a blast. It's intense. Everybody's into it," Waite said.
Under sixth-year coach
Kelly Sheffield, Wisconsin is working on a streak of five straight seasons in which it has advanced to the Sweet 16 or better, including a spot in the NCAA championship match in 2013.
UW, which hasn't finished out of the top five in national attendance since 2000, set a program record with an average of 5,980 fans per home match in 2017.
Thanks to the added seating, Waite expects there will be a more robust atmosphere at the Field House during the upcoming season.
"You put people in the upper deck and it adds a whole other layer – literally – of intensity there," he said. "I think it's been good when they fill it with 6,000 in there, but it takes it a notch up."
Over the years the Field House has been packed for everything from boxing matches – Muhammad Ali once fought there – to commencement ceremonies to noted national speakers like John F. Kennedy.
Boyd-Piekarski said the main reasons she came to Wisconsin was she wanted to grow with an emerging program and play on a stage like the Field House.
"We all had a common goal: We wanted to play well, work hard and make Madison proud," she said.
"I think because the Field House has such a rich history, it's a really unique and cool place to play."
Now that the Badgers are an established force, chasing national championships, the aura of the Field House is at forefront once again.
"There's just a great history of that venue being filled up," Waite said, "and I think it's ready to be filled up again."
