Britannica Educational Publishing - Volleyball and Its Greatest Players

Published in 2015 by Britannica Educational Publishing (a trademark of Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.) in association with The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc.

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Copyright 2015 by Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc. Britannica, Encyclopdia Britannica, and the Thistle logo are registered trademarks of Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved.

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First Edition

Britannica Educational Publishing

J.E. Luebering: Director, Core Reference Group

Anthony L. Green: Editor, Comptons by Britannica

Rosen Publishing

Hope Lourie Killcoyne: Executive Editor

Shalini Saxena: Editor

Nelson S: Art Director

Michael Moy: Designer

Cindy Reiman: Photography Manager

Introduction and supplementary material by Susan Meyer

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Volleyball and its greatest players/edited by Shalini Saxena.First Edition.

pages cm.((Inside Sports))

Distributed exclusively by Rosen PublishingT.p. verso.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-6227-5595-0 (eBook)

1. VolleyballHistoryJuvenile literature. 2. Volleyball playersRating of. I. Saxena, Shalini, 1982

GV1015.34.V65 2015

796.325dc23

2014023011

On the cover, page 3: Angela Leyva. Cris Bouroncle/AFP/Getty Images

Pages 6-7, 10, 21, 33, 41, 70, 71, 73, 76, 78 iStockphoto.com/Matt Brown; pp. 18, 19, 26, 35, 36 ratch/Shutterstock.com; back cover, interior pages background image Ruggiero S/iStock/Thinkstock; silhouettes Bojanovic/Shutterstock.com;

CONTENTS

I n 2004, the Peace and Friendship Stadium in Athens was packed with Olympic fans excited to watch the mens volleyball quarterfinal match between the United States and Greece. It was an eagerly anticipated match not only because it involved the Olympic host countrys team, but also because two years earlier at the Fdration Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) World Championships, Greece had beaten the United States in a thrilling upset. In Athens, after dropping two of the first three sets to Greece, the U.S. team again found itself behind in the fourth set of the match, at one point trailing Greece by a seemingly insurmountable 1220 margin. If Greece won the set, they would win the match and advance on. In a bold move, the U.S. team coach Doug Beal made the difficult decision to take out star setter and three-time Olympian Lloy Ball and replace him with a younger player, Donald Suxho. The gamble worked and, with Ball encouraging his teammates from the sidelines, the Americans rallied to win the fourth set 2523. Ball returned to the match as a substitute server in the fifth set, which the U.S. team won 1715 to complete one of the most dramatic comebacks in Olympic volleyball history.

A member of Greeces volleyball team spikes the ball against the U.S. team during the mens quarterfinal match at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. The thrilling match ended with a U.S. win. Al Bello/Getty Images

As that classic match in Athens showed, volleyball is a sport that depends both on the strengths of the individual players and the way players work together as a team. Unlike the majority of team competitive sports, opposing teams in volleyball dont have any physical contact with each other. Instead the two teams of six players are separated by a net. Despite this limited contact, volleyball can be one of the most fast-paced and exciting of team sports. Each team member has a specific skill set and each must work together in perfect communication to receive the ball and return it over the net. They must dive, jump, and run across the court with strength and agility.

Volleyball originated in the United States over one hundred years ago. Since then it has rapidly grown in popularity around the world. According to sports blog Sporteology, volleyball is the sixth most popular sport in the world with around 800 million participants globally. In the United States, the sport has also achieved popularity, particularly at the high school and college levels. In indoor volleyball, a large percentage of the participants are female. In fact, according to a 2013 National High School Athletics Survey, for every high school boy playing volleyball, there are eight more girls. In the sport of beach volleyball, the gender divide is less.

This book will explore some of the basic rules and strategies of the game of volleyball. It will provide a history of how the game was first invented and its exciting evolution into a globally played sport and a major event at the Summer Olympics. It will also look at the different skills that all volleyball players must master and the different positions players may specialize in on the court. It will explore some of the differences between the sports of indoor volleyball and beach volleyball and look at some of the truly great players in each sport. While there are masters of volleyball around the world, the focus of this book will be primarily on those from the United States.

From beach volleyball to the indoor court, volleyball has brought thrilling victories and stunning upsets, masterful athletes, and feats of athleticism. For hundreds of millions of fans around the world, it is an exciting game to watch and even more fun to play.

V olleyball is a team sport in which players use their hands or arms to knock a ball over a net. Two teams, usually with six players each, compete in a volleyball game. Volleyball requires a minimum of equipment and space and can be played indoors or outdoors.

C OURT AND E QUIPMENT

The indoor game is played on a smooth-surfaced court 9 meters (30 feet) wide by 18 meters (60 feet) long, divided by a center line into two equal areas, one of which is selected by or assigned to each of the two competing teams. Players may not step completely beyond the center line while the ball is in play. A line 3 meters (10 feet) from and parallel to the center line of each half of the court indicates the point in front of which a back court player may not drive the ball over the net from a position above the top of the net. (This offensive action, called a spike, or kill, is usually performed most effectively and with greatest power near the net by the forward line of players.) A tightly stretched net is placed across the court exactly above the middle of the center line; official net heights (measured from the top edge of the net to the playing surfacein the middle of the court) are 2.4 meters (8 feet) for men and 2.2 meters (7.4 feet) for women. Further adjustments in net height can be made for young people and others who need a lower net. A vertical tape marker is attached to the net directly above each side boundary line of the court, and, to help game officials judge whether served or volleyed balls are in or out of bounds, a flexible antenna extends 1 meter (3 feet) above the net along the outer edge of each vertical tape marker. The ball used is around 260 to 280 grams (9 to 10 ounces) and is inflated to about 65 cm (25.6 inches) in circumference.