Volleyball Terms

Front 1

ACE

Back 1

A serve that is not passable and results immediately in a point.

Hint 1

Serve

Front 2

ANTENNA

Back 2

The vertical rods (normally white and red) mounted near the edges of thenet. The antennas are mounted directly above the sidelines and are not-in-play.

Hint 2

(white and red)

Front 3

APPROACH

Back 3

Fast stride toward the net by a spiker before he jumps in the air.

Hint 3

fast stride

Front 4

ASSIST

Back 4

Passing or setting the ball to a teammate who attacks the ball for akill. This stat is normally only logged for high school, college, andNational/Olympic team play.

Hint 4

for a kill

Front 5

ATTACK

Back 5

The offensive action of hitting the ball. The attempt by one team toterminate the play by hitting the ball to the floor on the opponent's side.

Hint 5

terminate the play

Front 6

ATTACKERROR

Back 6

An unsuccessfulattack which does one of the following

Front 7

ATTACKER

Back 7

Also"hitter" or "spiker." A player who attempts to hit a balloffensively with the purpose of terminating play in his or her team's favor.

Front 8

ATTACKLINE

Back 8

A line 3m fromthe net that separates the front row players from the back row players.Commonly referred to as the "10-foot line."

Front 9

BACKCOURT

Back 9

The area from the endline to the attack line

Front 10

BACKSET

Back 10

A set deliveredbehind the setter’s back, which is subsequently hit by an attacker.

Front 11

BACKROW ATTACK

Back 11

– When a back rowplayer attacks the ball by jumping from behind the 3m line before hitting theball. If the back row player steps on or past the 3m line during take-off, theattack is illegal.

Front 12

BLOCK

Back 12

A defensive play byone or more players meant to deflect a spiked ball back to the hitter’s court.It may be a combination of one, two or three players jumping in front of theopposing spiker and contacting the spiked ball with the hands. Blocking the opponents third contact is theonly time you can reach over the plain of the net.

Front 13

BUMPor BUMP PASS

Back 13

a common term forforearm passing.

Front 14

BALLHANDLING ERROR

Back 14

Any time theofficial calls a double hit, a thrown ball or a lift (except on a servereception or attack). For our purposes, this category also includes anyblocking errors (when an official calls a blocker for a violation such as goinginto the net, centerline violation, reaching over the net, etc.).

Front 15

CENTERLINE

Back 15

The boundary thatruns directly under the net and divides the court into two equal halves.

Front 16

CLOSINGTHE BLOCK

Back 16

- Theresponsibility of the assisting blocker(s) to join the primary blocker andcreate an impenetrable block in which a ball cannot fit between, the seamof, the two blockers.

Front 17

CROSSCOURT SHOT

Back 17

An individualattack directed at an angle from one end of the offensive team's side of thenet to the opposite sideline of the defensive team's court.

Front 18

CUTSHOT

Back 18

A spike from thehitter's strong side that travels at a sharp angle across the net.

Front 19

DIG

Back 19

Passing a spiked orrapidly hit ball. Slang for the art of passing an attacked ball close to thefloor.

Front 20

DINK

Back 20

A legal push of theball around or over blockers.

Front 21

DOUBLEBLOCK

Back 21

Two players workingin unison to deflect an attacked ball at the net back to the hitter’s side.

Front 22

DOUBLEHIT

Back 22

Successive hitsor contacts by the same player. (Illegal)

Front 23

DOUBLES

Back 23

A game with twoplayers on each side, most commonly played on a sand court.

Front 24

DOWNBALL

Back 24

A ball theblockers elect not to attempt to block because it has been set too far from thenet or the hitter is not under control. A "Down Ball" is hit overhandand driven over the net with topspin while the player remains standing.

Front 25

FIVE-ONE (5-1)

Back 25

– (A 6-playeroffensive system that uses five hitters and one setter

Front 26

FLOATER

Back 26

A serve whichdoes not spin or rotate and therefore moves in an erratic path. This is similarto a "knuckle ball" pitch in baseball.

Front 27

FOREARMPASS

Back 27

Join your armsfrom the elbows to the wrists and strike the ball with the fleshy part of yourforearms in an underhand motion.

Front 28

FOUR-TWO(4-2)

Back 28

- A 6-playeroffensive system using four hitters and two setters. Setters set from the frontrow.

Front 29

FREEBALL

Back 29

A ball that willbe returned by a pass rather than a spike. This is usually called aloud by thedefense instructing players to move into serve receive positions.

Front 30

HIT

Back 30

To jump andstrike the ball with an overhand, forceful shot. AKA “Attack”

Front 31

HITTER

Back 31

Also"spiker" or "attacker"

Front 32

HITTINGPERCENTAGE

Back 32

kills minus errorsdivided by attempts (5 kills 2 errors in 10 attempts = .300)

Front 33

JUMPSERVE

Back 33

A serve that is started by the server tossing the ball into theair and jumping into and hitting the ball in its downward motion.

Front 34

JOUST

Back 34

When 2 opposingplayers are simultaneously attempting to play a ball above the net.

Front 35

KILL

Back 35

An attack thatresults in an immediate point or side out.

Front 36

LIBERO

Back 36

a full time backcourt player. The Libero can go in foranyone in the backrow and must stay out for one play when the player they arein for rotates to the front row. Thelibero must wear a contrasting jersey.

Front 37

LINE

Back 37

The marks thatserve as boundaries of a court.

Front 38

LINESHOT

Back 38

A ball spikeddown an opponent's sideline, closest to the hitter and outside the block.

Front 39

MIDDLE-BACK

Back 39

A defensivesystem that uses the middle back player to cover deep spikes.

Front 40

MINTONETTE

Back 40

The original name ofthe game of volleyball, created by William Morgan.

Front 41

OFFSIDEBLOCK

Back 41

Player at the net,which is on the side away from the opponent's attack.

Front 42

OUTSIDEHITTER

Back 42

a left-front orright-front attacker normally taking an approach which starts from outside thecourt

Front 43

OVERHANDPASS

Back 43

A pass executedwith both hands open, controlled by the fingers and thumbs, played just abovethe forehead.

Front 44

OVERLAP

Back 44

refers to thepositions of the players in the rotation prior to the contact of the ball whenserving.

Front 45

PANCAKE

Back 45

A one-handeddefensive technique where the hand is extended and the palm is slid along thefloor as the player dives or extension rolls, and timed so that the ballbounces off the back of the hand.

Front 46

PASS

Back 46

see "ForearmPass"

Front 47

PENETRATION

Back 47

The act ofreaching across and breaking the plane of the net during blocking. The only time you are allowed to reach overthe plane of the net.

Front 48

QUICK

Back 48

a playerapproaching the setter for a quick inside hit

Front 49

RALLYSCORING

Back 49

– a point is scored after every point.

Front 50

READYPOSITION

Back 50

The flexed, yetcomfortable, posture a player assumes before moving to contact the ball.

Front 51

RECEPTIONERROR

Back 51

A serve that aplayer should have been able to return, but results in an ace (and only in thecase of an ace).

Front 52

RECRUITING

Back 52

– The art of findingpeople to play for your team. Verydifficult and time consuming.

Front 53

REDCARD

Back 53

a severepenalty in which an official displays a red card. The result of a red card maybe a player is disqualified, the team loses the serve, or the team loses a point.A red card may be given with or without a prior yellow card as a warning; it isup to the official’s discretion.

Front 54

ROOF

Back 54

A ball that whenspiked is blocked by a defensive player such that the ball deflects straight tothe floor on the attacker’s side.

Front 55

ROTATION

Back 55

The clockwisemovement of players around the court and through the serving position followinga side out. You must always be aware of the players adjacent to you anddirectly infront or behind you, until the server contact the ball. After contact you must remain front row orback row but position (left, middle, right) no longer matter.

Front 56

SERVE

Back 56

One of the sixbasic skills; used to put the ball into play. It is the only skill controlledexclusively by one player.

Front 57

SERVER

Back 57

The player whoputs the ball into play.

Front 58

SERVICEERROR

Back 58

- An unsuccessfulserve in which one or more of the following occurs: 1) the ball hits the net orfails to clear the net, 2) the ball lands out of bounds, or 3) the servercommits a foot fault.

Front 59

SET

Back 59

The tactical skill inwhich a ball is directed to a point where a player can spike it into theopponent's court. Also the new termused in reference to a game. “You play the best of 5 sets.”

Front 60

SETTER

Back 60

– the player whohas the 2nd of 3 contacts of the ball who "sets" the ball with an"Overhand Pass" for a teammate to hit. The setter normally runs theoffense.

Front 61

SIDEOUT

Back 61

Occurs when thereceiving team successfully puts the ball away against the serving team, orwhen the serving team commits an unforced error, and the receiving team thusgains the right to serve.

Front 62

SIDEOUT SCORING

Back 62

– Points are only scored only if the serving team wins therally. No points are rewarded for a sideout. This point scoring system is rarelyused.

Front 63

SIXPACK

Back 63

Occurs when ablocker gets hit in the head or face by a spiked ball.

Front 64

SIX-TWO(6-2)

Back 64

A 6-playeroffense using 2 setters opposite one another in the rotation. Setter 1 becomesa hitter upon rotating into the front row as setter 2 rotates into the back rowand becomes the setter.

Front 65

SPIKE

Back 65

Also hit or attack.A ball contacted with force by a player on the offensive team who intends toterminate the ball on the opponent's floor or off the opponent's blocker.

Front 66

STRONGSIDE

Back 66

When a right-handedhitter is hitting from the left-front position or when a left-handed hitter ishitting from the right-front position.

Front 67

STUFF

Back 67

A ball that isdeflected back to the attacking team's floor by the opponent's blockers. Aslang term for "block."

Front 68

YELLOWCARD

Back 68

a warning froman official indicated by the display of a yellow card. Any player or coach whoreceives two yellow cards in a match is disqualified. A single yellow card doesnot result in loss of point or serve.