About Volleyball
Volleyball, like basketball, is a sport whose origin is known almost to the day. Oddly enough, both sports were invented at the same college and within a few years of one another. Volleyball was invented in 1895 by William G. Morgan, a student at Springfield College and a director of the YMCA at Holyoke, Massachusetts. The game was originally called "Mintonette".
Volleyball quickly spread around the world and became more popular in other countries than in the United States. The Federation Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) was formed in 1946. The sport was introduced to the Olympics in 1964 by the Japanese, although the Soviet Union has won the most medals. Originally the Japanese had the world's best women players while the United States had the best men's team in the world throughout the 1980s
Volleyball has now reached great heights of popularity in the United States and Brazil, largely thanks to the discipline of beach volleyball.
The beach volleyball phenomenon, although hugely visible, is still just in its infancy. From the first FIVB World Tour event just over ten years ago, to the overwhelming spectator and television success of "Beach" at the Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, beach volleyball has opened up Volleyball to a completely new market.
Volleyball Disciplines
Beach Volleyball
Because of the many difficulties of playing outdoors, such as the sand, the sun and the wind, beach volleyball players must have outstanding ball skills and court speed. Partners must be well matched or opponents will win easy points by exploiting the weaker player.
Competition
In beach volleyball, matches are played best of three sets using the rally point system. The first two sets are played to 21 points,
with the final tie-breaker set being played to 15 points. A team must win a set by two points. There is no ceiling, so a set continues
until one of the teams gains a two-point advantage.
Volleyball
Prior to Sydney 2000, the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) introduced a new specialist role: the libero. This player wears a different colored uniform from the rest of the team and can be substituted in backcourt for any player on the team. The libero cannot serve, spike the ball over the net or rotate into the front-line positions, but plays a vital role for the team in serve reception and backcourt defense. There must be at least one point played between a libero substituting off for a player and going back on the court for another player - hence he/she cannot be on the court for the whole game. The libero added an extra dimension to backcourt defense during the Sydney 2000 Games, improving the reception of teams, lengthening the rallies and giving a vital role to shorter players.
Competition
Matches are played best of five sets. The first four sets are played to 25 points, with the final set being played to 15 points.
A team must win a set by two points. There is no ceiling, so a set continues until one of the teams gains a two-point advantage.
Previously, all sets were to 15 points, with the first four sets having a ceiling of 17 and the final set requiring at least a two-point
winning advantage.