VOLLEYBALL
- Invented by William G. Morgan. He is a physical director at the Young Men’s Christian
Association (YMCA)
- The ball came from basketball, baseball, the net from tennis and the use of hands from handball.
- Morgan introduced the sport -- called mintonette, the original name of volleyball -- at the YMCA
Physical Director's Conference a year later at Springfield College, Massachusetts.
- Mintonette derived from the game badminton.
TIMELINE
• 1895: William G. Morgan (1870-1942) created the game of Mintonette (volleyball) in Holyoke,
Massachusetts.
• 1896: The first exhibition match of volleyball is played at Springfield College (called
International YMCA Training school in 1896).
• In 1900, a special ball was designed for the sport. (lighter and smaller)
• In 1916, in the Philippines, an offensive style of passing the ball in a high trajectory to be struck
by another player (the set and spike) were introduced.
• In 1917 points per set was changed from 21 to 15 points
• In 1920, three hits per side and back row attack rules were instituted.
• In 1922, the first YMCA national championships were held in Brooklyn, NY.
• In 1928, The United States Volleyball Association was formed.
• In 1937 The U.S. Volleyball Association was recognized as the official national governing body
in the U.S.
• In 1947, the Federation Internationale De Volley-Ball (FIVB) was founded.
• In 1949, the World Championships were held in Prague, Czechoslovakia.
• In 1964, volleyball was introduced to the Olympic Games in Tokyo.
• In 1984, the U.S. won their first medals at the Olympics in Los Angeles. The men won the gold,
and the women the silver.
• In 1988, the U.S. men repeated the gold in the Olympics in Korea.
• In 1990, the World League was created.
• In 1995, the sport of volleyball was 100 years old!
• In 1999, Non deciding- games are played to 25 and deciding games to 15.
VOLLEYBALL RULES
• 6 players on a team, 3 on the front row and 3 on the back row
• There is a maximum of three hits per side
• Player may not hit the ball twice in succession (A block is not considered a hit)
• Ball may be played off the net during a volley and on a serve
• A ball hitting a boundary line is ‘in’
• A ball is ‘out’ if it hits:
➢ an antennae,
➢ the floor completely outside the court,
➢ any of the net or cables outside the antennae,
➢ the referee stand or pole,
➢ the ceiling of the venue
• It is legal to contact the ball with any part of a players body
• It is illegal to catch, hold, or throw the ball
• If two or more players contact the ball at the same time, it is considered one play and either player
involved may make the next contact (provided the next contact isn’t the teams 4th hit)
• A player cannot block or attack a serve from on or inside the 3 meter line
• After the serve, front line players may switch positions at the net
• If a team has five players they will have a ghost position and when that position is serving the
team will lose the point and serve.
• The referee/duty crew is made up of two refs, line judges and a scorekeeper.
BASIC VIOLATIONS IN VOLLEYBALL
Doing any of these results in a violation for your team and a lost point:
• When serving, stepping on or across the service line as you make contact with the serve
• Failure to serve the ball over the net successfully
• Contacting the ball illegally (lifting, carrying, throwing, etc.)
• Touching the net with any part of the body while the ball is in play.
➢ Exception: If the ball is driven into the net with such force that it causes the net to contact
an opposing player, no foul will be called, and the ball shall continue to be in play.
• When blocking a ball coming from the opponents court, contacting the ball when reaching over
the net is a violation if both:
➢ your opponent hasn’t used 3 contacts AND
➢ they have a player there to make a play on the ball
• When attacking a ball coming from the opponents court, contacting the ball when reaching over
the net is a violation if the ball hasn’t yet broken the vertical plane of the net.
• Crossing the court center line with any part of your body.
➢ Exception: if it’s the hand or foot, the entire hand or entire foot must cross for it to be a
violation.
• Serving out of order.
• Back row player blocking and spiking, back row players near the net cannot contact the ball when
part of his/her body above the top of the net (an illegal block).
VOLLEYBALL SCORING SYSTEM
According to rules of volleyball, matches are best-of-five-set contests. The first four sets are played
till one team scores 25 points and if the teams are tied at two sets each after four, the fifth set is
played to 15 points.
Each rally is played for a point and the team that wins the rally and scores a point gets to serve for the
next point.
If the game is tied at 24-24, or 14-14 in the fifth set, the set continues till one team builds a two-point
lead over the other.
WINNING A POINT IN VOLLEYBALL
The most common way that points are won in a volleyball match is by spiking the ball into the
opposing team’s half. However, teams can end up losing a point due to other faults as well.
These include stepping over the line while serving, if any part of the body touches the net, double hit
(when the same player hits the ball twice in succession), a team taking more than three touches before
hitting it over the net and hitting the ball beyond the boundary line.
VOLLEYBALL COURT SIZES
• As per FIVB guidelines and volleyball rules, an volleyball court is 18m (59ft) long and 9m
(29.5ft) wide.
• The volleyball court is split into two halves of 9m (29.6ft) each and has a net. The top of the
volleyball net is 2.43m (7.97ft) tall net for men’s and 2.24m (7.35ft) tall for women’s
competition.
• The volleyball net 1 meter (3 ft.) and 10 meters (30 ft.) long when stretched.
• The FIVB approved volleyball ball weighs 260-290gms (9.2-9.9 ounces) and has a circumference
of 65-67cm (25.5-26.5 inches) with a psi of 4.3-4.6.
VOLLEYBALL PLAYERS AND THEIR POSITIONS
There are six volleyball players in a team, who can play in five positions – setters, middle blockers,
outside hitter, weakside hitter, liberos:
Setter: The setter serves as the team’s playmaker, setting up the ball for attackers and directing the
offense.
Middle blocker: located at the center of the court, focuses on blocking opponents’ attacks and
performing quick offensive plays.
Outside hitter: positioned on the left side, is responsible for receiving serves and executing powerful
attacks.
Opposite hitter: The opposite hitter, situated on the right side, takes on hitting and blocking
responsibilities while also acting as a backup setter.
Libero: The libero is one of the most unique positions in all of sports. Liberos wear a different uniform to
the rest of the team and can sub in for any member of the backcourt.
Liberos cannot block or attack shots by reaching over the net and are primarily in the game to pass, return
the ball and help the team with their defensive skills.
Reference:
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