184 Fun Facts About Volleyball

What was the original name of the sport now known as volleyball?

Mintonette was William Morgan's name for the game he invented in 1895, until an observer at an 1896 exhibition remarked on how the players volleyed the ball back and forth.

In indoor volleyball, how many players does each team have on the court at any one time?

6 a side is the modern rule, but Morgan's original game of 1895 let any number of players take the court.

Outside a tie-break set, how many points wins a set in indoor volleyball, given a two-point lead?

25 points with a two-point lead takes a set under rally scoring; before 1999 sets ran to 15, and only the side that had served could score.

What do players call a floor save where the ball bounces off the back of a flat hand?

A pancake has the defender lunge and push one hand flat along the floor, palm down, a last-ditch save for a ball that is about to land.

Which indoor volleyball player wears a different coloured jersey and may not attack or block above the net?

The libero can replace any back-row player without notice to the officials, and the swap does not count against the team's substitution limit.

What was William Morgan's job when he invented volleyball in 1895?

Physical education director at a YMCA, Morgan ran exercise classes for businessmen and wanted a game that was less strenuous for his older members.

Which 1980s Tom Cruise film features a famous beach volleyball scene?

Top Gun's match, played to Kenny Loggins's 'Playing with the Boys', comes right before Maverick's dinner date with Charlie, which is why he keeps glancing at his watch between points.

Which famous Australian beach hosted the beach volleyball at the 2000 Sydney Olympics?

Bondi Beach gave the hosts a storybook finish: Australia's Natalie Cook and Kerri Pottharst beat Brazil's reigning world champions in the final, in front of their home fans.

Which volleyball skill uses the forearms to control the ball, typically when receiving a serve?

The pass, also called a bump, is played off a platform made by joining the forearms, and its usual target is the setter.

Which volleyball professional and fashion model married big-wave surfer Laird Hamilton in 1997?

Gabrielle Reece combined pro volleyball tours with a modelling career in New York, and met Hamilton when she interviewed him for a television show.

Excluding a block, how many times may a volleyball team hit the ball before it must cross the net?

3 contacts at most; in Morgan's original game a side could hit the ball as many times as it liked before sending it over the net.

Which US president kept fit with a medicine-ball game played over a volleyball net?

Herbert Hoover's physician devised the game to keep him fit, and Hooverball still has an annual championship in West Branch, Iowa.

In volleyball, which attacking hit has a player jump and strike the ball steeply downwards over the net?

The spike is the reason teams block: front-row defenders jump with the hitter to stop the ball at the net.

What is the primary role of a setter in indoor volleyball?

Placing the ball for attackers, usually with the team's second contact, makes the setter the playmaker who decides which hitter gets to attack.

Which type of serve swerves unpredictably in flight, much like a knuckleball pitch in baseball?

A float is struck with almost no spin, so the air pushes the ball about and receivers cannot tell where it will end up.

Which brand of volleyball becomes Tom Hanks's island companion in the film Cast Away?

Wilson is both the ball's maker and the name Hanks's castaway gives it after drawing a face in his own bloody handprint.

Beach volleyball first appeared as an Olympic medal sport at which city's Games?

Atlanta's 1996 Games staged the first Olympic beach tournament on a man-made beach well inland, and the six-day event sold out.

What do players call a wildly mishandled ball that flies off out of every teammate's reach?

A shank sends the ball so far off target that no teammate can play it, which usually ends the rally on the spot.

Which volleyball skill saves a hard-driven attack from hitting the floor, often with a dive?

A dig brings a hard-driven ball up from close to the floor, turning the other side's best attack into a ball a teammate can play.

Which striped rods stand above each end of the net to mark the space the ball must cross within?

Antennas extend the sidelines upward: a ball that touches one, or crosses the net outside them, is out.

Which position usually runs the 'quick' attack, leaping before the ball has even been set?

A Middle Blocker's quick attack is timed to beat the block: the hitter is already in the air when the set arrives, so opponents get little time to react.

How is the team that serves first in a volleyball match decided?

By coin toss; within each set, whichever team wins a rally serves the next one.

Which volleyball-style sport is played on an inflatable court with trampolines?

Bossaball mixes volleyball with football touches and gymnastics, and its trampolines launch attackers high above the net.

What material is typically used for the outer casing of a modern volleyball?

Synthetic leather, or the real thing, covers a modern ball; Morgan first tried the bare bladder of another sport's ball, found it too light and slow, and had one made to order.

Which attack has a hitter run along the net behind the setter and take off from one foot?

A slide starts like a quick attack, then the hitter veers away to chase a low back set and jumps off one foot.

Which position usually attacks from the right side of the net and often acts as the backup setter?

The Opposite Hitter is named for lining up across the rotation from the setter, which keeps one of the two in the front row at all times.

Beach volleyball caught on across the United States as a cheap escape during which hard times?

The Great Depression made a day at the beach the cheapest fun around, and the game needed nothing more than a net and a ball.

Which country won three consecutive women's Olympic volleyball gold medals from 1992 to 2000?

Cuba's women sat out the 1988 Games in their country's boycott, then came back to win the next three Olympic titles, a record run.

After which type of contact may the same player legally play the ball again immediately?

A block touch is not counted as a team contact, so the blocker may make the next play on the ball without committing a fault.

The sky ball, struck so high that it drops almost straight down, is a version of which serve?

Underhand is the action behind the sky ball: the server swings up from below the waist and sends the ball as high as possible to trouble the receiver.

Which FIVB tournament was created in 1965 to fill the gap between the Olympics and the world championship?

The FIVB World Cup, first played in 1965, was staged in Japan the year before each Olympics from 1991 to 2019 and doubled as an Olympic qualifier through 2015.

What do players call a low floor defence in which they push forward onto hands and chest without leaving the ground?

A sprawl keeps the defender on the floor, pushing the body forward and down to get the arms under a ball that is too far away to reach standing up.

Which beach volleyball shot is struck with the knuckles?

A pokey gets round the beach game's ban on guiding the ball over with an open hand, so attackers poke it with their knuckles instead.

Under FIVB rules, a server may stand behind which part of the end line?

Anywhere along it: a rule change expanded the service zone to the court's full width, so servers can line up wherever suits their aim.

Which volleyball variant is played inside a racquetball court?

Wallyball makes the court's walls part of the game: the ball stays live when it rebounds off them.

Which court line must back-row players take off from behind to hit the ball above net height?

The attack line divides each side into front and back zones; a back-row hitter may land in front of it, as long as the jump began behind.

Which 2018 film stars Helen Hunt as an Iowa high school volleyball coach?

The Miracle Season tells the true story of Iowa City West High, whose players regrouped after the death of captain Caroline Found and won the state title again.

In which Ben Stiller comedy does his character injure the bride during a pre-wedding volleyball game?

Meet the Parents sees Greg, trying too hard to impress his girlfriend's family, hit the ball straight into her sister's face just before her wedding.

Which soft attack is hit with heavy topspin to arc over the block and drop?

A roll shot is a change of pace: the hitter swings up under the ball instead of down through it, lofting it over blockers braced for a hard swing.

What do players call a soft attack that drops the ball just over the opponent's block?

A tip, also called a dink, is played with the fingertips instead of a full swing, dropping the ball onto open floor behind the blockers.

To which city did the FIVB move its headquarters from Paris in 1984?

The federation left Paris for Lausanne in 1984, joining the cluster of international sports bodies around the IOC's home city.

Which sport did William Morgan design volleyball to be a gentler alternative to?

His YMCA clients were middle-aged businessmen who found basketball too demanding.

Which inventor of another sport did William Morgan meet during his student days?

James Naismith had devised his own game at the YMCA training school shortly before Morgan studied there, and Morgan invented his while working for the YMCA.

What do hitters call an attack played off the blockers' hands so that the ball flies out of bounds?

A tool, or wipe, turns the block against itself: because the blockers touched the ball last, the point goes to the hitter.

What do players call an attack hit almost parallel to the net?

A cut shot crosses so sharply that it lands near the front of the court, and it is a staple of the beach game, where fewer defenders leave more of the court open.

What do players call the warm-up in which two partners keep a ball going back and forth between them?

Pepper is a favourite warm-up because it needs only two players and a ball, with no net: the pair control, set and hit to each other in a steady rhythm.

Which company produced early volleyball rulebooks through its publishing arm?

Spalding, through its American Sports Publishing Company, printed early rule books, and the firm also made the first ball designed for the game.

In which country were the set and spike first introduced to volleyball?

The Philippines gave the sport its power game, a combination that every team's attack is now built around.

Which Southeast Asian sport is nicknamed 'kick volleyball' and played with a woven rattan ball?

Sepak takraw keeps volleyball's net but bans the hands, so players launch the ball with their feet, knees, chest and head.

American troops introduced volleyball to much of Europe during which war?

World War I brought American soldiers and YMCA instructors to Europe with the game, and national volleyball organisations sprang up there in its wake.

Which was the first country outside the US to adopt volleyball, in 1900?

Canada adopted the game soon after its invention, carried north by the YMCA, the same network that later took it to Asia.

In its early decades, how was the name volleyball usually written?

As two words: 'volley ball' described the back-and-forth volleying over the net, and the one-word spelling was only adopted officially decades later.

Beach volleyball is thought to have originated in 1915 on which beach?

Waikiki, Hawaii, is where the beach game is thought to have begun in 1915; the two-a-side version came later, on the sands of California.

Which fault is called when players are standing out of their rotation order at the moment of serve?

An overlap is judged only at the instant of the serve; once the ball is struck, players are free to run to their preferred spots.

In which direction do volleyball players rotate each time they win back the serve?

Clockwise, one position at a time, so the player arriving at the back-right corner becomes the next server.

What is the call when a volleyball lands on a boundary line?

In: the lines count as part of the court, and the slightest touch of the line is enough.

What slang term do players use for taking a hard-driven ball straight in the face?

A six-pack, also called a facial, is no fault: a ball that rebounds off any part of a defender's body stays in play if a teammate can reach it.

Which official controls the match from a stand at one end of the net?

The first referee watches from a raised stand at one end of the net and has the final say, while the second referee works at floor level by the opposite post.

Until what season were NCAA women's sets played to 30 points under rally scoring?

The 2007 season was the last with 30-point 'games'; from 2008 NCAA women's volleyball renamed them 'sets' and cut them to 25 points.

What does a red card cost a volleyball team?

A point: a red card punishes rude conduct and hands the rally to the other side, whereas a yellow card is only a warning.

Which volleyball officials stand at the court's corners?

Line judges also signal when a ball has brushed a player's hands on its way out, a touch that can turn the call around.

Which Swiss watch brand gave its name to the FIVB's beach volleyball World Tour from 2003 to 2012?

Swatch became title sponsor in 2003 and brought its own technology along, including electronic scoreboards and devices that measured the speed of the ball.

Which country's women's volleyball team is nicknamed the 'Sultans of the Net'?

Turkey lost the European final on home soil in 2003 and waited twenty years to win one, finally taking the title in 2023.

Which former NBA forward played Olympic beach volleyball at Paris 2024?

Chase Budinger starred at volleyball in high school but picked a college with no men's team, Arizona, to focus on his other sport, and went back to the game after seven NBA seasons.

Brazilian players named their towering sky ball serve after which 1960s science-fiction TV series?

Star Trek, 'Jornada nas Estrelas' in Portuguese, gave the serve its Brazilian name: Bernard Rajzman adapted it from the beach game in the early 1980s, sending the ball so high it drops almost straight down.

Which volleyball term describes the receiving team winning a rally and earning the serve?

A side-out hands the serve to the team that was receiving; before rally scoring it earned no point at all, only the right to serve and score.

Which serve sees the ball tossed high and struck with topspin after a timed approach?

The jump serve has the server toss the ball high, take a timed approach and strike it with topspin, turning the serve into a first attack.

In volleyball, what is a serve called when it lands untouched or the receiver cannot keep it in play?

An ace wins the point straight from the serve, landing untouched or proving unplayable for the first receiver; under today's rules one that clips the net on its way over still counts, where it was once a fault.

In volleyball, what is it called when the setter sends the ball over the net on the second contact instead of setting?

A dump works because the defence is braced for a set: the setter shapes to deliver one, then plays the second contact over the net into open court instead.

What is an attack that lands in the opponents' court or cannot be returned called?

A kill is an attack that wins the point outright; hitters are rated by subtracting their errors from their kills and dividing by total attempts, so a ball smashed out costs as much as a kill earns.

Which change did the FIVB test on beach volleyball courts in 2001?

A smaller court: the beach court had matched the indoor one until the trial cut two metres from its length and one from its width, and the change became official the following year.

Why did Paul Johnson try two-a-side beach volleyball at Santa Monica in 1930?

Too few players came for a six-man game at the Santa Monica Athletic Club, so Paul 'Pablo' Johnson and the three others present split into pairs for the first recorded doubles match.

Which central London landmark hosted beach volleyball at the 2012 Olympics?

Horse Guards Parade, the ceremonial ground where Trooping the Colour is staged each year, was fitted with a temporary 15,000-seat arena for the Games.

Which California tournament, first held in 1960, is known as the 'Wimbledon' of beach volleyball?

The Manhattan Beach Open, first played in 1960, sets each winner's name into a bronze volleyball-shaped plaque on the town's pier, its 'Volleyball Walk of Fame'.

Which country's pair, both aged 22, won men's beach volleyball gold at Paris 2024?

Sweden's David Åhman and Jonatan Hellvig beat Germany's Ehlers and Wickler in the final, six years after winning Youth Olympic gold together; Norway's defending champions took bronze.

Which tequila brand sponsored the World Championship of Beach Volleyball from 1978?

Jose Cuervo backed the 1978 World Championship at Redondo Beach, and within two years beach volleyball had its first sponsored tour.

What drove promoter Event Concepts out of beach volleyball in 1984, leaving the AVP in charge?

A players' strike in 1984 drove Event Concepts out of the sport, and the AVP, founded by the players the previous year, took over running the tour.

Where was beach volleyball's first international exhibition held in 1986?

Rio de Janeiro drew about 5,000 spectators to the 1986 exhibition; the game had boomed on the city's beaches during the 1980s, which made it the natural stage.

What did the FIVB newly permit women's beach volleyball players to wear at London 2012?

Shorts and sleeved tops became an option for women at London 2012 after the FIVB relaxed its bikini rule, saying many countries' religious and cultural requirements called for a more flexible uniform.

What did the FIVB change about snow volleyball in December 2018?

Teams grew to three players, plus one substitute, and sets were cut to 15 points; snow volleyball had copied the beach game's two-a-side format, and the change was meant to make rallies last longer.

What did the NCAA first call women's beach volleyball as an emerging sport in 2010-11?

The NCAA listed it as 'sand volleyball' when it became an emerging sport for 2010-11, renamed it beach volleyball in 2015, and staged the first championship in 2016.

The Volleyball Nations League, launched in 2018, replaced which men's tournament?

The World League, an annual men's event since 1990, gave way to the Nations League in 2018, when the women's World Grand Prix was retired in the same way.

Which new offensive skill helped the 1976 men's Olympic volleyball champions win gold?

The back-row attack, pioneered by Tomasz Wójtowicz, has a back-court player take off from behind the front zone to hit; it carried Hubert Wagner's team through a 3–2 final in Montreal to the gold.

Whom did the Soviets beat in the 1980 men's Olympic volleyball final in Moscow?

Bulgaria lost the Moscow final 3–1 to a Soviet side that had swept Romania in the semi-final; Libya, called up when Tunisia joined the boycott, lost all five of its matches without taking a set.

Who coached the United States men to their first Olympic gold in 1984?

Doug Beal took charge in 1977 and put the national team into a year-round training centre, based in San Diego from 1981; three years later it won the United States' first Olympic men's volleyball gold.

The 1988 Olympic men's volleyball final at last matched the United States against which rival, after boycotts in 1980 and 1984?

The Soviet Union lost 3–1 in Seoul to a US team led by Karch Kiraly and Steve Timmons; the Americans had stayed away from Moscow in 1980 and the Soviets from Los Angeles in 1984.

Brothers Vladimir and Nikola Grbić led which country to men's Olympic volleyball gold at Sydney 2000?

Yugoslavia lost its first two pool matches, then swept both of its conquerors 3–0 in the semi-final and the final, with setter Nikola Grbić running the attack beside his elder brother Vladimir.

Which country came from two sets down, saving match points, to beat Brazil in the 2012 men's Olympic volleyball final?

Russia lost the first two sets in London, saved two match points in a 29–27 third and won the fifth 15–9, with 2.18 m Dmitriy Muserskiy scoring 31 points.

Which French star led his country to its first men's Olympic gold in Tokyo?

Earvin N'Gapeth was named tournament MVP after France beat the Russian Olympic Committee 3–2 in the Tokyo 2020 final, taking the fifth set 15–12 after letting a two-set lead slip.

What prize went to the best teams at the first beach volleyball tournament to offer one, in 1948?

A case of Pepsi was the whole reward in 1948, and an upgrade at that: the first official two-man tournament, on a California beach the year before, carried no prize money at all.

Which country won the women's volleyball gold at the Los Angeles 1984 Olympics?

China swept the United States 3–0 in the Los Angeles final for its first Olympic volleyball gold, reversing a defeat by the same team in the pool stage; Lang Ping led its attack.

Which feat is the US great Karch Kiraly the only player to achieve?

Olympic medals indoors and on the beach are Kiraly's alone, all gold: two with the US team in the 1980s, then one on the sand with Kent Steffes after he gave up the indoor game for the beach tour.

Karch Kiraly's father Laszlo had played national-team volleyball for which country before emigrating?

Hungary was home until Laszlo Kiraly fled after the 1956 uprising; in the United States he taught his son the game, and the two were entering beach tournaments together by the time Karch was 11.

Karch Kiraly won three NCAA volleyball titles under coach Al Scates at which university?

UCLA went unbeaten in two of Kiraly's four seasons under Al Scates, whose Bruins won 19 NCAA titles; Kiraly fitted it all around a biochemistry degree.

How many consecutive beach volleyball matches did May-Treanor and Walsh Jennings win in 2007-08?

112 matches and 19 tournaments in a row went to May-Treanor and Walsh Jennings before fellow Americans Elaine Youngs and Nicole Branagh beat them in Ohio, days after their Olympic gold in Beijing.

Which US president attended a beach volleyball event at Sorrento Beach in Los Angeles in the 1960s?

John F. Kennedy turned up at Sorrento Beach, one of the Californian beaches where parks departments had turned beach volleyball from a club pastime into an organised tournament circuit.

Kerri Walsh Jennings played college volleyball for which school?

Stanford made Walsh a first-team All-American four years running; she then played indoors for the United States at the 2000 Olympics, finishing fourth, before switching to the beach.

Whom did Kerri Walsh Jennings partner after Misty May-Treanor retired in 2012?

April Ross had lost the London 2012 final to Walsh Jennings and May-Treanor; teamed with her conqueror from 2013, she added a bronze at Rio 2016.

Which sport gave William Morgan the idea of a net, though he rejected it as a model for needing rackets?

Tennis came to Morgan's mind first, but it needed rackets, balls and other kit, so he kept only the net, raised it above head height and had players bat a ball over it by hand.

What do players call a block that stuffs an attack straight back into the attacker's court?

A roof, also called a stuff, sends the attack straight back down to the hitter's floor; a soft block instead deflects the ball so that a teammate behind can play it.

Which Frenchman was the FIVB's first president?

Paul Libaud, head of the French federation, was elected at the founding congress in Paris and stayed in office for 37 years, until Rubén Acosta of Mexico succeeded him.

Under which president did the FIVB move its headquarters out of Paris?

Rubén Acosta, the Mexican elected FIVB president in 1984, moved the federation's headquarters out of Paris to Switzerland and ran it until 2008.

How many national federations were affiliated to the FIVB as of 2020?

The FIVB counted 222 affiliated national federations in 2020, one of the largest memberships of any international sports federation.

Sitting volleyball was invented in 1956 in which country?

Sitting volleyball was devised in the Netherlands in 1956, when the Dutch Sports Committee combined volleyball with sitzball, a German seated game, as a rehabilitation sport.

Sitting volleyball lets front-row players block which shot, a move banned in the standing game?

The serve may be blocked in sitting volleyball, where the men's net stands just 1.15 metres high and a player's backside must stay on the floor whenever the ball is played.

Which country won eight of ten Paralympic men's sitting volleyball golds from 1988 to 2024?

Iran's run was interrupted only by Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2004 and 2012; its recent teams are built around Morteza Mehrzad, who is nearly two and a half metres tall and spikes sitting down.

Who created the manga Haikyu!!?

Haruichi Furudate tested the idea in two one-shot stories in 2011, then serialised Haikyu!! in Weekly Shonen Jump from 2012 to 2020, filling 45 volumes.

What nickname does Haikyu!! give setter Tobio Kageyama?

Kageyama's 'King of the Court' nickname mocks his tyrannical junior-high setting; Hinata vows to beat him after a crushing loss before the two end up teammates at Karasuno.

Where did Nebraska stage its 2023 'Volleyball Day', which set a US attendance record for women's sport?

Memorial Stadium, home of Nebraska football, was the answer after Wisconsin took the regular-season attendance record in 2022: the Huskers' indoor arenas were too small to win it back, so 92,003 filled the football ground.

Whom did Nebraska play in the main match on Volleyball Day in 2023?

Nebraska beat the University of Nebraska Omaha 3–0 in the main match, after Kearney and Wayne State had played a Division II exhibition.

Which Italian was named the FIVB's men's 'Player of the Century' in 2001 jointly with Karch Kiraly?

Lorenzo Bernardi, capped 306 times, was voted best player when Italy won the 1994 world title, yet he never won Olympic gold: his best was silver at Atlanta in 1996.

Which player did the FIVB name Best Female Player of the 20th Century?

Regla Torres, a middle blocker, was playing international matches at 14 and was an Olympic champion at 17, the first of three golds that earned her the FIVB's award.

What nickname did Chinese star Lang Ping carry as a player?

Lang Ping was nicknamed the 'Iron Hammer' for her spiking power, and later coached the United States to 2008 silver and her native China to gold at Rio 2016.

Which 2.02 m opposite led Russia to world titles in 2006 and 2010?

Ekaterina Gamova towered over most blockers; twice a beaten Olympic finalist, in 2000 and 2004, she then took the two world titles and was voted into the Volleyball Hall of Fame in 2026.

The Eiffel Tower Stadium for beach volleyball at Paris 2024 stood in which park?

Champ de Mars, once the parade ground for cadets of the military school at its far end, held the temporary stadium at the tower's foot, which went on to host blind football at the Paralympics.

Bruno, the Brazilian setter known as Bruninho, is the son of which legendary coach?

Bruninho is the son of Bernardo Rezende, 'Bernardinho', who coached him to Olympic gold in 2016 after silvers in 2008 and 2012.

Jordan Larson helped the US women win their first Olympic gold in which Games?

Tokyo 2020 ended a long wait: the US women had lost the Olympic finals of 1984, 2008 and 2012, the last two to Brazil, the team they finally beat for gold.

Which country's women's team, nicknamed the 'Oriental Witches', won the first Olympic women's volleyball gold?

Japan's team grew out of the Nichibo textile company's works side; Hirofumi Daimatsu drilled it so hard he was called the 'demon coach', and European reporters coined the nickname during a 24-match winning tour.

Which Norwegian partnered Anders Mol to Olympic beach volleyball gold?

Christian Sørum joined Anders Mol in 2016, after Mol had spent two seasons with Mathias Berntsen; in Tokyo they beat Viacheslav Krasilnikov and Oleg Stoyanovskiy in the final for gold.

Which Brazilian won women's beach volleyball gold at Paris 2024?

Duda Lisboa and Ana Patrícia had won Youth Olympic gold together in 2014; reunited in 2022, they beat Canada's Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson in the Paris final.

April Ross won Olympic beach volleyball gold in Tokyo with which partner?

April Ross won Tokyo 2020 gold with Alix Klineman, a converted indoor player, completing her set after earlier Olympic silver and bronze.

Phil Dalhausser won 2008 Olympic gold with which partner?

Todd Rogers, nicknamed 'the Professor', teamed up in 2006 with the towering Phil Dalhausser, 'the Thin Beast'; they went to Beijing ranked world number one and won gold.

Sinjin Smith was the first player to reach what milestone?

100 career tournament wins came first to Sinjin Smith, who retired in 2001 with 139; by then Karch Kiraly, the partner of his early victories, had overtaken him as the game's most prolific winner.

Which company makes the official ball for all FIVB competitions?

Mikasa, which began in Hiroshima in 1917 as a rubber company, makes the balls used in every FIVB competition and at the Olympic Games.

Which school won the first NCAA Division I women's volleyball championship in 1981?

USC beat its neighbours UCLA in the first NCAA final in 1981; it was already the Trojans' fourth national title, the first three having come before the NCAA ran a women's championship.

Russ Rose won seven NCAA women's volleyball titles between 1999 and 2014 as head coach of which university?

Penn State had lost three finals under Rose in the 1990s, two of them 3–2, before the first title came in 1999; four in a row followed from 2007 to 2010.

The International Volleyball Hall of Fame is located in which city?

The International Volleyball Hall of Fame stands in Holyoke, Massachusetts, the city where Morgan invented the game; Morgan himself was its first inductee in 1985.

Where is USA Volleyball headquartered?

Colorado Springs houses USA Volleyball, long known as the United States Volleyball Association and founded by the YMCA, the organisation in whose gym the game was invented.

Snow volleyball originated as a variant of beach volleyball in which country?

Austria's ski resort of Wagrain took up the idea in 2008 and a tour followed a year later; Europe's volleyball confederation adopted the sport in 2015 and launched a European Tour in 2016.

Which country won its first women's World Championship in 2018, beating Italy in the final?

Serbia beat Italy 3–2 in the 2018 final in Yokohama for its first women's world title, with Tijana Bošković named MVP; it retained the crown in 2022.

Which form of volleyball left the Paralympic programme after the Sydney Games of 2000?

Standing volleyball, played at every Paralympics from 1976, was dropped after Sydney; the sitting game carried on alone and gained a women's tournament at the next Games.

Which country won the 1974 men's volleyball World Championship in Mexico?

Poland won its first world title under Hubert Wagner, a coach nicknamed 'Kat' and noted for his punishing workouts; two years later the same team took Olympic gold in Montreal.

Which Brazilian was named MVP of the 2012 men's Olympic volleyball tournament despite losing the final?

Murilo Endres was voted MVP at London 2012 even though Brazil let a two-set lead slip in the final; his wife, Jaqueline Carvalho, won gold with Brazil's women at the same Games.

How many players per side did footvolley teams have when it began on Copacabana in 1965?

Footvolley started five-a-side in 1965; because most early players were professional footballers the ball rarely dropped, so sides shrank to the standard two-a-side format.

Under FIVB rules, which teammates is a libero allowed to replace without it counting as a substitution?

Any back-row player can make way for the libero, but it is usually a middle blocker, who comes back on when that spot rotates to the front row.

The libero, the volleyball player in the contrasting jersey, takes its name from the Italian word for what?

Free is the meaning, usually put down to the player's freedom to come and go without using up any of the team's substitutions.

Which volleyball official stands on the floor beside the net post and authorises substitutions and time-outs?

Second referee is the title: this official faces the referee's stand from across the court, whistles net touches and centre-line faults, and keeps order on the benches.

What do volleyball line judges raise straight up to signal that a ball has landed out of court?

A flag is each line judge's only tool: raised upright for out, pointed at the floor for in, and tapped on top with the other palm when the ball went out off a player.

Under FIVB rules, who alone may ask the referees to explain a ruling while the ball is out of play?

The game captain speaks for the team, and one who is not satisfied with the answer may at once reserve the right to file a formal protest on the score sheet after the match.

Under FIVB rules, what happens when a serve clips the top of the net and still drops into the opposing court?

Play continues, since a ball may touch the net on its way over; until a rule change at the turn of the century, a serve that brushed the tape was a fault.

How is the first serve of a volleyball match decided, a procedure repeated before any deciding fifth set?

A toss by the referee settles it, and the winning captain picks either to serve or receive, or which end to take, leaving the loser the other choice.

What is the ruling in volleyball when a serve or attack lands on a boundary line of the court?

Ball in is the call, because the boundary lines belong to the court: a ball is out only when every part of it touching the floor lies completely outside them.

For which organisation was William G. Morgan working as physical education director when he invented volleyball?

The YMCA both employed Morgan and spread his game: its instructors carried volleyball to Europe with American forces during and after the First World War.

Which conference is home to Nebraska, Penn State and Wisconsin, three giants of women's college volleyball?

Big Ten volleyball gained Penn State in 1991, after the school had won eight straight Atlantic 10 championships without losing a single conference match.

On a volleyball roster, which back-row role abbreviated DS comes on through ordinary substitutions, unlike a libero?

Defensive specialist is the full name: a back-court expert with none of the libero's special rules, sent on for a weaker back-row teammate under the normal substitution limits.

In competitive beach volleyball, one partner usually blocks at the net while the other plays which backcourt role?

Defender is the role, and the pair work as a unit: finger signals flashed behind the back tell each other which part of the court the block will take away.

Which standard volleyball formation, named for its hitters and setters, is by far the most common in high-level play?

5–1 is the system: one setter runs the attack through all six rotations, whereas the simpler 4–2, which shares the job between two, is mostly left to beginners.

Which back-row volleyball attack, hit by the player in the centre, has a faster low-set cousin called the bick?

Pipe attacks come from the back row down the middle of the court; the bick, short for back quick, is the same play run off a much lower, faster set.

When a volleyball team rotates, the player who served from position 1 moves next to which numbered spot?

Area 6 is the next stop: a player works round the court in the order 1, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, the reverse of the way the positions are numbered.

Under FIVB rules, where on the court is position 1, the spot a volleyball player rotates into to serve?

Back right is position 1, and the player there is the only one allowed outside the court when the ball is served, standing in the service zone behind the end line.

In volleyball's numbered rotation, which three positions make up the front row along the net?

2, 3 and 4 are the front row, numbered from right to left along the net, and only those three players may attack the ball above net height from inside the front zone.

Which duty do volleyball's opposite hitters usually leave to the outside hitters and libero, standing behind them?

Serve receive is usually handled by a three-player line of two outside hitters and the libero, which keeps the opposite fresh to attack, even from the back row.

Until which moment must a receiving volleyball team hold its rotational order, after which players may move anywhere?

The service hit is the instant that counts: a player caught out of order then concedes the point, but a moment later the whole team can switch to its preferred spots.

Under FIVB rules, what must take place between two libero replacements, which are otherwise unlimited?

A completed rally is the only requirement, so a libero can shuttle on and off all match, with an official at the table logging every swap on a separate control sheet.

What do beach volleyball pairs call taking turns at the net, rather than fixing one partner there, to save energy?

Split blocking shares the jumping between both partners, which matters on a beach, where moving about costs far more energy than it does on a hard court.

In the anime Haikyu!!, which Karasuno High player, the shortest on the team, plays libero?

Yu Nishinoya won a best-libero award in junior high and is rated, alongside the setter Kageyama, as one of Karasuno's two prodigies.

Which opposite hitter was named MVP as her country won its first Olympic volleyball gold at Paris 2024?

Paola Egonu was also voted the tournament's best opposite, having earlier stepped away from the national team for a time over the racist abuse she had faced.

Which outside hitter was voted MVP of both the Athens 2004 Olympics and the 2006 men's World Championship?

Giba, born Gilberto Godoy Filho, also won three world titles and eight World Leagues, and captained his country to Olympic silver in 2008 and 2012.

Which outside hitter was named MVP of the London 2012 women's Olympic tournament although her team finished fourth?

Kim Yeon-koung scored 207 points in London, then an Olympic record, but South Korea lost the bronze-medal match to Japan in straight sets.

Which libero was named MVP of the Rio 2016 men's Olympic volleyball tournament at his fourth and final Games?

Sérgio Santos, better known as Serginho, was 40 and had to be persuaded to come back for his home Games, where his team took gold after two straight silvers.

Which setter steered the US men's volleyball team to Olympic gold in Beijing at his fourth Games?

Lloy Ball was the first American man to play volleyball at four Olympics, and had finished ninth, eleventh and fourth before the gold finally arrived.

Which middle blocker captained Turkey to its first Nations League and European Championship titles, both in 2023?

Eda Erdem was voted best middle blocker at four straight European Championships from 2015, and away from the court she is a qualified ship's captain.

What does a volleyball referee show for a first act of rude conduct, giving the opponents a point and the serve?

A red card means a penalty rather than a sending-off in volleyball: the player stays on court, and it takes red and yellow shown together to expel someone for the set.

Which volleyball official, seated at a table beside the court, sounds a buzzer when a team serves out of order?

Scorer is the job: besides keeping the score sheet, this official tracks substitutions and time-outs and gets both captains to sign before the match starts.

What does a volleyball referee signal by tracing a circle in the air with one forefinger?

Rotational fault is the call behind the circling finger; the offending team loses the point and the serve, and its players must correct their positions before play resumes.

What fault is called when a serving team's players wave their arms or bunch together to hide the server?

Screening is whistled only if the receivers can see neither the server's contact nor the ball's flight; team-mates may not raise their hands above their heads at the serve either.

At which New England school was volleyball's first exhibition match played, the game that inspired its modern name?

Springfield College hosted the 1896 exhibition and then adjusted the rules itself; Morgan had been a student there only a few years before he devised the game.

Which of these did William G. Morgan's original rules for volleyball leave completely unlimited?

Players per team were left open, so any number could join in, and a side could also touch the ball as many times as it liked before sending it back over.

Under volleyball's original rules of 1895, what was a server allowed after making a serving error?

A second try was allowed, as in tennis, under Morgan's first rules, which also counted a ball hit into the net as a foul except on that first attempt.

Which European capital hosted the first men's Volleyball World Championship, one of the young FIVB's first projects?

Prague staged it soon after the federation was founded, and European teams went on to dominate the event's early decades.

In which city did a showcase tournament staged for an IOC session in 1957 help win volleyball its Olympic place?

Sofia hosted the 53rd IOC session, and the tournament went down so well that the sport was accepted; the IOC later tried to drop it for 1968 but backed down after protests.

Which NBA great became president of the co-ed International Volleyball Association in 1975 and played in its league?

Wilt Chamberlain took up the sport during his Lakers days and sits in the Beach Volleyball Hall of Fame; his league was one of the few where men and women were team-mates.

Which US star of the 1984 Olympic silver-medal team collapsed and died at a professional match two years later?

Flo Hyman, who was 31, had undiagnosed Marfan syndrome, and America's National Girls and Women in Sports Day is held each year in her memory.

In which US city was the first annual nine-man volleyball tournament for Chinatown teams held in 1944?

Boston was the host, and its players had met a Providence team in the first organised nine-man tournament in 1938; the street game arrived with immigrants from Toisan.

What was the FIVB's main aim when it switched volleyball to a system in which every rally scores a point?

Predictable match length was the goal, with television in mind: under the old system only the serving team could score, so nobody knew how long a match would last.

Women's college volleyball is a fall sport, so in which month is the NCAA Division I title match normally played?

December brings the final, though the 2020 edition was the exception: the pandemic pushed that whole tournament into the following spring.

Which school won back-to-back NCAA women's volleyball titles in 2022 and 2023 under longtime coach Jerritt Elliott?

Texas won its first NCAA title in 1988, when it became the first champion to sweep every tournament opponent 3–0, and it took another under Elliott in 2012.

Which coach led Nebraska to four NCAA volleyball titles in 25 seasons before retiring after the 2024 campaign?

John Cook knew so little about the sport when he first coached it, at a high school, that he had to read books to grasp the basics.

Which school did Penn State beat in the 2024 NCAA final, the first contested by two female head coaches?

Louisville, under Dani Busboom Kelly, lost 3–1 in its home city, and Katie Schumacher-Cawley became the first woman to coach an NCAA Division I volleyball champion.

Which coach led Hawaii's Rainbow Wahine from 1975 to 2017, winning four national titles along the way?

Dave Shoji passed UCLA's Andy Banachowski in 2013 to become, at that point, the winningest coach in Division I women's volleyball, with 1,107 victories.

For which university did future Olympic champion Misty May captain an unbeaten 36–0 team to the NCAA title?

Long Beach State became the first women's team to finish an NCAA season unbeaten, and May, its setter, shared the tournament's most outstanding player award.

Which Midwestern university won back-to-back NCAA men's volleyball titles in 2014 and 2015, the first on its home court?

Loyola Chicago won the first as tournament host, a year after its debut in the event, and kept the trophy by edging Lewis in a five-set final.

Which SEC school did coach Craig Skinner lead to its first NCAA women's volleyball title, in the 2020 season?

Kentucky had also taken the SEC's very first volleyball championship, beating Tennessee back in 1979, four decades before Skinner's team went all the way.

In a deciding fifth set, what do volleyball teams do as soon as the leading side reaches eight points?

Change ends is the rule, done without delay and with every player keeping the same position, so that each team spends part of the short set at either end.