This year, DePauw athletics has been drawing bigger crowds than ever, and it is not going unnoticed by the players on the field.
The fall sports have consistently been well-attended, but this season is the best seen in years.
Most notably, the men's soccer season opener at Boswell Field attracted 450 fans. This is outstanding in comparison to last year's season opener with only 175 spectators at the field.
There is no specific reason as to why this season has so many more fans, but it is not just soccer that is seeing the improvement. The DePauw women's volleyball team is already 10-1 on their season and are on a current ten-game win streak, especially after this past weekend at home during the DePauw Tiger's Invitational where they went 4-0.
Student turn out at the volleyball tournament was exceptional.
"Playing in front of large crowd is such an exhilarating feeling," junior Mary Kate Etling said. "The crowd becomes part of the team, in a way, and we are able to bounce of one another. Volleyball is game about momentum and energy and with a bigger and louder crowd it becomes easier and more exciting to maintain those intangibles."
But as the fall sport season wares on, the whole athletic department is hoping to see continued support at all of the athletic events, not just soccer and volleyball. There is a history, at football games especially, of DePauw students leaving the games at half-time. Athletic Director Stevie Baker-Watson is hoping to change that this year.
"Hopefully we see the success we've had with volleyball and men's soccer [in football]," Baker-Watson said. "They deserve the respect of their classmates to stay the entire time. We're all part of a community together. We were down at Sewanee at half, and we had a great second half. People miss a lot when they leave at the half."
Last year's football home opener against St. Olaf saw 1225 people and as the Tigers' home opener for this season draws nearer and nearer, the size of the crowd is on many of the players' minds.
"When I look in the stands and see them filled with students, faculty, and parents, a sense of pride overcomes me," sophomore quarterback Justin Murray said. "Having a packed house gives me encouragement to play even harder."
With football's first game on the new turf at Blackstock stadium, preseason jitters are on the whole team's mind. All of the players hope for a good turnout to watch their match-up against Wittenberg.
"It's called home field advantage for a reason and there is more to the game than Xs and Os," senior defensive lineman Michael McManis said.
"The atmosphere the fans bring by being the biggest, loudest and most amped up crowd makes us players that much more pumped to play."
As a school community of only around 2,400 students, one person can go a long way in a fan section.
"In D3, they say it's about the student athlete experience and not the fans," Baker-Watson said. "If you ask the athlete, they want nothing more than people there to support them."