Volleyball

History

 Developed by William G. Morgan (graduated in 1894 at Springfield College)

 Attempted to get the local business men involved in basketball in Holyoke, Massachusetts.
Some old men didn’t like the game’s roughness.
 He decided to put the net at a height of 6 ½ feet (now near 8 ft.)
 Minton – considered first cousin to volleyball. Introduced in 1895. Played by 2 teams of 4 players
who played on a 40 x 80 foot court
 Spaulding company made a ball of soft calfskin which didn’t last long
 Faust ball – game played by Italians during the Middle Ages that had some similarities to
volleyball
 First called volleyball as mintonette. First exhibition was at Springfield College on July 7, 1896
 Alfred Halstead – christened the game ‘’volleyball’’
 1896 – W.E Day introduced the new sport in Dayton, Ohio. Developed some new rules. Net was
raised to 7 ½ ft., no dribbling of the ball by 1 player, was standardized at 21 points
 1912 – More modern version of the rules. Rotate before a serve was instituted.
 1916 – YMCA and the NCAA published rules of the game. Set the height of net at 8 ft, set the
game score at 15, winner should win by 2/3 games
 Early 1920s – Provost and his teammate added a few more rules. Standardized the court at 30 x
60 ft., limit of 3 hits per side, ball played from above the waist only.

Popularity

 Introduced to the Philippines in 1910, to Japan in 1913, to Poland in 1915, to Uruguay in 1916,
to Brazil and Latvia in 1919, and to Syria in 1922. After World War I, it was introduced
throughout Europe.
 Playground of America (now the National Recreation Association) started to teach it is an
outdoor game (1907)
 Early 1920s – University of Illinois began to teach volleyball as a PE activity
 1928 – First college team started in Oregon
 1934 – University of Washington followed
 1941 – First university volleyball league with 12 teams
 1947 – International Volleyball Federation was formed to regulate the game throughout the
world. 15 nations sent representatives (now more than 150 members)
 1953 – First World Championships were held
 1964 – became an Olympic sport
 800 million people play volleyball at least once a week.
 Twelfth most popular sport
 More people now participate in volleyball than in tennis, soccer, skiing, racquetball, golf or
baseball
 Most popular among the 25 to 35 age group
 Youth volleyball – fastest growing sport among young Americans
 Interscholastic volleyball – third most popular sports for girls
 Facilities and Equipment
 The traditional American court is 30 x 60 ft., with a ceiling height of at least 23 ft. Most games in
the US are played on this traditional court.
 The international court is 59 ft. (18 m) long and 29 ½ ft. (9m) wide, bounded by lines two inches
wide.
 Three-meter line, back court spiking line or the attack line – line on each side of the court
running parallel to the net three meters from the line
 The Net – are 36 inches from top to bottom
 The Standard – support the net that are mounted in the floor in some gyms.
 The Referee Stand – attached to a standard and allows the referee to stand about 4 ft. above
floor level
 The Antennae – a thin pole extended over the sideline from the top of the net to a level 3 ft.
above the net
 The Ball – made of leather and is 25 to 27 inches in circumference. Have both synthetic and
rubber balls. Have alternating white, blue and yellow panels.

Rules and Regulations

 NAGWS (National Association for Girls’ and Women’s Sport) formulates rules for collegiate
women’s programs
 Team – made up of 6 players
 12 players on the roster
 Official game is concluded when one team scores 15 points and has won by two points. In men’s
intercollegiate rules, the game is capped when a team reaches 17 pts.
 Fast-scoring (rally point scoring) – both teams can score any time. \
 Match is won when a team has won 3 games out of 5. In a short match – 2 games out of 3.
 Flipping the coin for choice of side of serve before 1st and 5th game.
 The position of the sun might prompt a captain to choose side than serve.
 Opening serve – decided by the captain winning the coin toss.
 Points – scored only by the serving team
 Side out – occurs only by the serving team commits a foul or hits the ball out of bounds
 Positions and zones are named to identify where players are to be.
 Server or right back (Zone 1)
 Right front (zone 2) – players in the 3 front zones
 Center front (zone 3)
 Left front (zone 4)
 Left back (zone 5) – three back row players
 Center back (zone 6)
 Rotates occur after side out. Players rotate clockwise. New server rotates from zone 2 to zone 1.
 Substitutions – twice a game (USA rules) six times (International rules). Most allow for 12.
 First contact – a player handles a serve or attack hit. Num. of contacts limited only to 3 on each
side of the net. Block is not counted
 Fouls/Violations result in a side out by the serving team.
 Terminology
 Ace – in-bounds legal serve that the opponents cannot return
 Antenna – vertical rods
 Assist – passing ball to a teammate
 Attack – offensive action of hitting the ball
 Attack block – receiving players’ aggressive attempts to block a spiked ball
 Attack line – line 3 m from the net
 Attacker – hitter or spiker
 Back-row attack – attack from a back-row player
 Back set – when the setter’s back is toward the hitter
 Beach dig – open-handed hit of the ball
 Block – defensive play by 1 or more players
 Bump – forearm passing
 Center line – line directly under the net
 Closing the block – assisting blockers
