A unique buzz will float around Mascoutah when the 2024 high school volleyball season opens on August’s final weekend.
On Aug. 31 at 7 p.m., the Indians volleyball squad, which advanced to the Class 3A Taylorville Supersectional last season, will play host to 2023 Class 2A sectional finalist Breese Central in an outdoor stadium court match.
The event is a first for the metro east and has been in the making for the past year, says Mascoutah Athletic Director Scott Battas.
“Oddly enough, it’s something I’ve thought about for a long time,” Battas said.
Battas said the idea for the outdoor game came to him from watching the University of Nebraska take on Omaha in an outdoor match that drew a record 92,000 spectators in Lincoln on Aug. 30 of last year.
“I always try to be a little bit on the creative side and provide unique opportunities our kids here,” Battas said. “It kind of took a little while to get that ball rolling after Nebraska did it last year. How people were talking about that venue and that game, I knew it was something we could pull off here. We just started putting some things into motion and after we were able to find what we thought we needed, we reached out to Breese Central to see if they would be interested in trying to play in front of a few thousand people outside. They jumped at the opportunity.”
The Mascoutah Athletic Department purchased a used 4,000-square-foot outdoor court and volleyball standards from Courts Galore and Repurposed Materials. According to Battas the courts and the standards cost $20,000.
“The cost of the court was right at $20,000, and the funds were split between the booster club and our athletic department fundraising activities account,” Battas said.
Battas added that the idea behind getting the court and standards was not just to have them for the Aug. 31 event at Alumni Field but also for future events at the school as well as raising awareness in girls sports such as volleyball.
“This court will be used to generate revenue not only at this event, but future Athletic Department showcases and events including an annual volleyball shootout hosting some of the premier programs in the region,” Battas said. “We plan the use it as a revenue generating event and shootouts down the road and we feel like it’s gonna be a profitable thing for us at the end of the day.”
Mascoutah first-year volleyball coach Brooke Kloess, who came over from Freeburg this summer, said she and her players are beyond excited about playing on the outdoor court next month. Kloess and the Indians’ spikers got to help set up and use the unique court for a first-time practice on June 10.
“I think everybody is more than excited about it,” Kloess said. We were able to get on it once this summer for a test run and the whole environment is just going to be extraordinary. Obviously, we know that Mascoutah likes to do special things and I think this is going to be nothing short of that.”
Kloess said that the opening practice and day went well on the new outdoor court.
“We got all the girls here to help with everything and we had a perfect evening for it, it was really nice out and I’m praying that’s the same for August 31st,” she said.
According to Kloess, people should expect to see a lot of purple on both sides of the Mascoutah stadium, not just because of the unique setting, but because both programs have had historical success.
“It’s going to be a sea of purple in town that night so I think we’re going to have a lot of support from both schools. The volleyball is exciting for both programs and everybody kind of pays attention to the volleyball teams,” Kloess said. “I think it’s going to start things right of for both of us.”
Battas said that the outdoor volleyball match will be the first ever held in IHSA regular season competition and is being watched by athletic departments across the state.
“It’s got a lot of interest from some of my colleagues around the state and I know there will be a lot of eyes on us that night.,” Battas said. “I think it’s gonna be a pretty cool event.”
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