Volleyball

For a sport that has been around for over a century, the origin of volleyball traces its roots to a rather humble beginning. History has it that William G. Morgan, who invented the game of volleyball in 1895, came up with the idea so that people who found basketball’s ‘bumping’ or ‘jolting’ too strenuous could have an alternative physical activity to fall back on. William G. Morgan, who served as the physical director at the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) Holyoke, Massachusetts, looked at the sports around and picked the aspects that he thought suited his brief the best. The ball came from baske`tball, the net from tennis and the use of hands from handball. While this made up a game of volleyball, it was lent some competitive tone with the introduction of innings - later to be called sets - that was borrowed from baseball. 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. "In search of an appropriate game, tennis occurred to me, but this required rackets, balls, a net and other equipment, so it was eliminated, but the idea of a net seemed a good one," Morgan explained. "We raised [the net] to a height of... just above the head of an average man. We needed a ball and among those we tried was a basketball bladder, but this was too light and too slow. We therefore tried the basketball itself, which was too big and too heavy.” A new specia...

USD has added another major-college transfer to its women’s volleyball team as it looks to return to the Final Four. Outisde hitter Amber Stivrins comes from the University of Georgia, where she spent the last three seasons as a member of the Bulldogs’ team. She led Georgia with 212 kills during the 2020-21 pandemic-altered season. Her 47 service aces in the fall of 2021 led the Southeastern Conference and ranked 25th nationally. A Scottsdale, Ariz. native, Stivrins spent her freshman season at Louisville, where he was named to the ACC’s All-Freshman Team. The Cardinals advanced to the Elite Eight. USD coach Jennifer Petrie said she was “excited” to add the grad transfer to the Toreros’ roster. USD advanced to its first Final Four last season before falling to Texas in the national semifinals. Stivrins is the second major-conference transfer to join the Toreros this offseason; Nebraska setter Anni Evans committed in March. “The added depth and experience she will bring in the outside position is sure to elevate our entire program,” Petrie said.

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The sport quickly became known as volleyball after an observer, Alfred Halstead, noticed the volleying nature of the game at its first exhibition match in 1896, played at the International YMCA Training School (now called Springfield College). T he first rulebooks for the sport were produced in the early 1900s, with the first international federation (Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB)) following in 1947. The premise of volleyball is simple: land the ball in-bounds in the opponent's half of the court without the opponent returning it successfully. Players on a team must use a combination of no more than three contacts to return the ball to the opponent’s side of the net. A point is scored when the ball lands within the court boundaries or when a playing error is made. There have been a number of exceptional players that have graced Olympic volleyball courts over the years; two such athletes who continue to compete at a high level today are Tokyo 2020 gold medalist and two-time FIVB World League champion Earvin N'Gapeth (France) and three-time Olympic medalist and 2014 world champion Jordan Larson (USA) were named Most Valuable Players of the men’s and women’s Tokyo 2020 Dream Team, respectively. Tijana Boskovic (Serbia), a two-time Olympic medalist and European and world champion, and three-time Olympic medalist Bruno Rezende (Brazil) remain formidable members of their national teams who, along with Japan, Italy, France, the USA and the People’s Republic of Chi...

“It feels great! It was such a miracle to qualify and then just being able to break pool and just play one point at a time… Thank God for it because qualification was really difficult. We had pretty much already lost and somehow we were able to come back.” - on he and Andy Benesh winning their first Elite 16 Beach Pro Tour medal (bronze) “We knew that Cuba was a great team and we had to stay calm the whole entire time. I think the match got emotional, especially at the end. They came back and they had a great run, but I think we stayed calm through it and played our game.” - on defeating Cuba in the semifinal of the U21 Pan American Cup There’s nothing like the feeling of being part of a team. Whether you win or lose, you’ll never forget the friendships forged while playing volleyball. Find a team or a club near you, and create lasting bonds with teammates on and and off the court. USA Volleyball offers competition in: • Girls, boys and adult indoor volleyball • Beach • Sitting Compete

Packed with thrills, bumps, sets and spikes, volleyball is a brilliant spectator sport – but it’s even better when you get stuck in yourself. This high-speed game requires athleticism, endurance and power. If you’re a beginner, there are plenty of ways to build up your skills and learn how to play volleyball – both What are the basics of volleyball? If you’re thinking about taking up this exhilarating sport or just want to learn more, read through our basic rules on how to play volleyball. From team formations to how to score a point, we’ll help you pick up the essential rules before you get started. An indoor volleyball match is the best of five games. The team who takes the majority (three games) is the overall winner of the match. For beach volleyball, it’s best of three. To win a game, a team must score 25 points with a two-point difference. If they’re too closely matched, the game can continue over the 25-point maximum. On the final deciding game of the match it’s only played until 15 points, but the two-point difference still applies. In beach volleyball, a game is played to 21 points, with the same final round and tiebreak rule. You can find out more in our Each indoor volleyball team consists of six players, whereas beach volleyball is played in teams of two. For indoor volleyball, there are a number of positions. Usually, there are three players at the front near the net and another three towards the back of the court. Volleyball at Rio 2016 For the first game, th...