Volleyball

**Volleyball** is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court."

*Source:* Article "Volleyball" on Wikipedia

## Basic play

"A match proceeds as follows: a player on one of the teams begins a 'rally' by serving the ball (tossing or releasing it and then hitting it with a hand or arm) from behind the back boundary line of the court, over the net, and into the receiving team's court. The receiving team must not let the ball be grounded within their court. The team may touch the ball up to 3 times but individual players may not touch the ball twice consecutively (also called dribbling). Typically, the first two touches are used to set up for an attack, an attempt to direct the ball back over the net in such a way that the serving team is unable to prevent it from being grounded in their court.

The rally continues, with each team allowed as many as three consecutive touches, until either:

* a team makes a kill, grounding the ball on the opponent's court and winning the rally;

Or

* a team commits a fault and loses the rally. The team that wins the rally is awarded a point, and serves the ball to start the next rally.

The ball is usually played with the hands or arms, but players can legally strike or push (short contact) the ball with any part of the body.

A number of consistent techniques have evolved in volleyball, including spiking and blocking (because these plays are made above the top of the net, the vertical jump is an athletic skill emphasized in the sport) as well as passing, setting, and specialized player positions and offensive and defensive structures."

In this anime, any team can score points, rather than just trying to gain and hold serves. The first team to reach 25 points wins the set, and in a best of three sets. If scores are tied at 24-24 at any stage, the first team to get a 2-point lead wins the match.

*Source:* Article "Volleyball" on Wikipedia

## Techniques

### Serves

* **Underhand**: a serve in which the player strikes the ball below the waist instead of tossing it up and striking it with an overhand throwing motion. Underhand serves are considered very easy to receive and are rarely employed in high-level competitions. Kiyoko is shown to be good at it to the point where she can pose as the ball hits a target (water bottle) while Yachi's serves are so poor, she hit Hinata, who was standing right next to her, in the head.
* **Topspin**: an overhand serve where the player tosses the ball high and hits it with a wrist span, giving it a topspin which causes it to drop faster than it would otherwise and helps maintain a straight flight path. Topspin serves are generally hit hard and aimed at a specific returner or part of the court. It derives from an overhand tennis serve. Standing topspin serves are rarely used above the high school level of play.
* **Float**: an overhand serve where the ball is hit with no spin so that its path becomes unpredictable, akin to a knuckleball in baseball.
* **Jump Serve**: an overhand serve where the ball is first tossed high in the air, then the player makes a timed approach and jumps to make contact with the ball, hitting it with much pace and topspin. This is the most popular serve amongst college and professional teams.
* **Jump Float Serve**: it could also be called a non-rotation serve. When a ball is hit with no rotation, its trajectory slips around and the ball curves suddenly and falls. The ball's curve is also difficult to determine as the ball appears to be moving slowly at first glance, but it'll suddenly shift and go off-track just short of the receive.
* **Sky Ball Serve**: a specific type of underhand serve occasionally used in beach volleyball, where the ball is hit so high, it comes down almost in a straight line. This serve was invented and employed almost exclusively by the Brazilian team in the early 1980s and is now considered outdated. In Brazil, this serve is called *Jornada nas Estrelas* (Star Trek).

### Blocks

* **Read**: a player watches where the toss will go and jumps accordingly.
* **Lead**: a player jumps after seeing where the toss goes.
* **Kill**: the ball is completely blocked out by the opposing blocker.
* **Soft**: the ball is touched to slow down the spike's momentum so a counterattack is possible.
* **Commit**: a player jumps on a prediction of where the toss would go.
* **Guess**: revolving around reading and intuition, one must read the attack before the toss is thrown and jump accordingly.
* **Blockout**: a ball goes out-of-bounds right after touching a blocker, resulting in a point for the attacking side.
* **Tipping into the block**: a ball is purposely hit to bounce back off the blocker so a player can redo the attack. This is also known as a **rebound spike**.

### Spikes

* **Parallel**: the ball is spiked across the other side of the net–basically in a parallel direction.
* **Straight**: the ball is spiked in a straight direction, usually through a gap between the blockers. Not many players use this because it can be stopped easily.
* **Cross**: the ball is hit towards a location on the setter’s side.
* **Turn**: the ball is hit away from the setter.
* **Tool**: the ball is intentionally hit into the blockers so it'll go out, leading to a point for the attacking side.

### Attacks

* **Quick**: the ball is set to a spiker at an incredibly fast rate. This technique is extremely helpful in evading blockers.
* **Dump**: in order to throw off the opponents, a setter can "dump" a ball over the net by using one hand to push it over as the setter is in a tossing position.
* **Back row attacks**: a ball is set to a player in the back, almost akin to a pipeline. The spiker, if he/she is strong enough, jumps and spikes the ball from there.
* **Personal time difference attack**: the player first acts like he or she is about to jump, but holds that position when the blockers react. Then, the player attacks during the quick instance when the blockers are falling away.

### Others

* **Feints**: a player fakes an attack to throw the blockers off so another spiker can hit the ball or another attack can be carried out. Decoys excel in this skill.
* **Tempo**: attacks are set up according to the timing so different tempos can be set up. A tempo is based on the time the spiker starts the run-up, the fastest being the first tempo.
* **Dig**: the ability to prevent the ball from touching one's court after a spike or attack, particularly a ball that is nearly touching the ground. In many aspects, this skill is similar to passing, or bumping: overhand dig and bump are also used to distinguish between defensive actions taken with fingertips or with joined arms. It varies from passing, however, in that it is a more reflex based skill, especially at the higher levels. It is especially important while digging for players to stay on their toes; several players choose to employ a split step to make sure they're ready to move in any direction.
	+ Some specific techniques are more common in digging than in passing. A player may sometimes perform a "dive" (throw his or her body in the air with a forward movement in an attempt to save the ball) and land on his or her chest. When the player also slides his or her hand under a ball that is almost touching the court, this is called a "pancake". The pancake is frequently used in indoor volleyball, but rarely, if ever, in beach volleyball because the uneven and yielding nature of the sand court limits the chances of the ball making a good, clean contact with the hand. When used correctly, it is one of the most spectacular defensive volleyball plays.
	+ Sometimes a player may also be forced to drop his or her body quickly to the floor to save the ball. In this situation, the player makes use of a specific rolling technique to minimize the chances of injuries.