More students are attending University of Hawaii football and volleyball events this year, officials said.

"It is very encouraging," acting athletic director Rockne Freitas said. "Especially since the athletes react to their peers."

Football drew 1,803 students to the Lamar game, well above the 1,047 average for home games in 2011. Meanwhile, the Rainbow Wahine have averaged 375 per match so far, more than double last year’s average.

"It was nice to see a bunch of students having some fun," football coach Norm Chow said on Tuesday’s Mountain West Conference coaches’ teleconference. "We obviously would like to see some more Saturday."

UH plays Nevada on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. in the conference opener. Three thousand green and white pom poms will be distributed in the student section before the game.

Richard Mizusawa, president of the Associated Students at UH, said, "Many expressed how much fun they have at football games, and I strongly believe sporting events like these truly give you the full Manoa experience that every undergraduate student should experience here at UH."

UH makes up to 5,000 seats per game available to students at Aloha Stadium in exchange for a $50-per-semester fee.

Chow said, "I didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t know what had happened in the past, (but) it looked pretty good. It looked like they were having a lot of fun and that’s what college football should be about."

In efforts to grow attendance, UH said the athletic department will run a full-page advertisement in the student newspaper, "thanking the students for their impressive turnout last Saturday and encouraging them to attend the game Saturday." UH said it is also emailing all students in on-campus housing this week.

UH said 587 students took advantage of the 12 free buses to Aloha Stadium.

"The early results have been very positive and we’re optimistic that the upward trend will continue," said John McNamara, associate athletic director.