Mayville hosts Wisconsin’s 1st outdoor high school volleyball matches

Mayville volleyball serves up history

Mayville High School hosted the first sanctioned outdoor high school volleyball matches in Wisconsin, with teams from Mayville, Waupun and Horicon competing.

MAYVILLE, Wis. - At Mayville High School, fans came to the football stadium in droves. However, they weren't there to watch football.

Local perspective:

"It's like the spectacle of Rome," said Mayville volleyball coach Alan Capps. "It's not just the game, it's an event."

These fans came to watch volleyball, being played on a wooden court, on the football field.

This is the "Battle of the Marsh: The Ultimate Showdown."

FREE DOWNLOAD: Get breaking news alerts in the FOX LOCAL Mobile app for iOS or Android

Mayville served up some history by hosting the first outdoor sanctioned high school volleyball matches in the state of Wisconsin, which featured Mayville, Waupun and Horicon.

This event was the brainchild of Cardinals volleyball coach Alan Capps.

"It came into being just kind of thinking about it two years ago. The University of Nebraska, they built a court on a stage in their stadium," said Capps. "I'm sitting in my chair last year just kind of scrolling through Facebook and I see this outdoor volleyball match by a high school. It was a school in Iowa and I'm like that's really cool and that's probably what got the wheels turning. I know we're a little school, I know we're in the country, but why not us?

From there, it was time to execute the plan. Scott Hilber, Mayville's athletic director and football coach, said it took him one second to decide that he was in.

"It's never been done in Wisconsin, so we're honored to be the first ones to do it here," said Scott Hilber.

Capps also enlisted the help of Drexel Building Supply, which provided 190 sheets of plywood.

Dig deeper:

Woodside Sports Complex brought the actual Sport Court.

"We kind of brainstormed the way it would go and it kind of steamrolled from there," said Mickey Fadness from Woodside Sports Complex. "We figured it'd be a cool idea and be a good way to get involved with a different community. We were glad to help out anyway we could.

It took a handful of volunteers six hours to put this wooden court together. They built the 2x4 base, added plywood and laid down the Sport Court. The community's help really resonated with the Cardinals.

"It's because of the passion that they have for the name on the front," said Hilber. "They want to put Mayville on the map, they want to do something cool for our girls, and they want to do something cool for local communities as well."

That night, fans from all three schools wore their respective colors and came to witness history.

RELATED: Check out the new and improved FOX Sports app

They also got to see Mayville honor their first volleyball team from 1973.

That celebration helped serve up the main event of three electric volleyball matches. Mayville won two of those matches.

What they're saying:

"Well, it's crazy first of all, like the experience, everything, just our community coming out together," said Mayville junior Lilian Mansueto. "I mean it's never been done in Wisconsin, so of course it's always [neat] to just like experience this.

That experience, that environment, was one that Capps will never forget.

"It means a lot to me," said Capps. "The event is cool, but to see the smiles on my girls' faces, to see the community come out here, listening to the other teachers talk about how excited they were because this is a big event, I'm exceptionally proud of everything."