Hawaii’s volleyball attendance race with Nebraska might go down to the wire, but the Cornhuskers have history on their side.

The Wahine have led the country in attendance every year since moving into the Stan Sheriff Center in 1994. But the ‘Huskers have an unmatched history of hosting postseason matches, and that attendance is counted by the NCAA.

Going into the final week of the regular season, Hawaii has moved back into first in attendance nationally with 127,502 fans in 17 home matches. That’s an average of 7,500, which is the second best in history for UH. The final-four team of 1996 averaged 8,378.

Nebraska has drawn 114,191 fans (the NCAA’s gauge for ranking teams) to 14 home matches at its new arena. The Devaney Center is limited to 7,907 for volleyball, but NU is averaging 8,157 with standing room only tickets. The ‘Huskers’ only home match remaining in the regular season is against Penn State on Friday, so they have no chance of catching Hawaii until the NCAA tournament.

When that starts, Hawaii’s hopes of leading the nation in attendance a 20th straight year diminish dramatically.

The Wahine have hosted first- and second-round NCAA matches once since 2004. That was in 2011, after an NCAA rule change that mandated the 16 seeded teams have the right to host. The previous seven years, UH was seeded in the top 15 and sent away each time. Last year, the Wahine’s final RPI dropped to 17 and they ended up in Washington.

UH’s RPI is 11 this week, with a good chance of dropping as it closes against the Big West’s bottom two.

In stark contrast, the No. 8 Cornhuskers have hosted first and second rounds the past nine years, along with three regionals. A fourth will be in Lincoln this year.