The comprehensive lexicon of volleyball vocabulary, technical mechanics, offensive & defensive systems, and gym-floor slang used by elite collegiate, club, and national team coaches.
A serve that directly results in a point without the receiving team being able to return the ball or make a playable second contact.
“She ripped a flat jump float into the deep seam for an ace on match point.”
Flexible vertical rods mounted on the net directly above each sideline marking the lateral boundaries of the playable court. Any ball contacting or traveling completely outside the antenna is ruled out of bounds.
“Keep your approach angled toward the court so your attack doesn't sail wide outside the antenna.”
An illegal ball contact where the ball strikes the antenna or crosses outside the vertical extension of the antenna into the opponent's court.
“The referee whistled an antenna ball after the spike clipped the white-and-red fiberglass rod.”
The rapid, rhythmic sequence of footwork (typically 3 or 4 steps) and coordinated arm swing an attacker executes to convert forward momentum into maximum vertical jump height.
“Accelerate through your last two steps of the approach to maximize your vertical on the swing.”
The fluid rotational motion of the hitting armâ€
“encompassing”
A statistical credit awarded to a player who passes or sets a ball directly to a teammate who attacks the ball for a kill.
“Our setter finished the match with 42 assists and distributed the ball across all three front-row hitters.”
Any offensive action that directs the ball over the net with the intention of terminating the rally for a point or sideout, including spikes, tips, roll shots, and back-row hits.
“We need an aggressive attack from the left pin to break their service run.”
An active, aggressive block where front-row defenders penetrate their hands across the net plane to direct a spiked ball immediately back onto the opponent's floor.
“Press over the net on your attack block instead of just jumping straight up.”
The coordinated positioning of non-hitting teammates close to an attacker to dig any ball deflected back into their court by the opponent's block.
“Move into low attack coverage with your hands out whenever our hitter swings against a formed double block.”
An unsuccessful attack attempt resulting in a dead ball and point for the opponent, such as hitting into the net, hitting out of bounds, being blocked for a stuff, or committing a centerline violation.
“Eliminate unforced attack errors by taking high roll shots when set out-of-system.”
The line positioned 3 meters (10 feet) parallel to the net on both sides that separates front-row players from back-row attacking restrictions; commonly called the 10-foot line.
“The back-row hitter must take off behind the attack line before contacting the ball above net height.”
Any front-row or legal back-row player who attempts to hit the ball into the opponent's court to score a kill; also referred to as a hitter or spiker.
“The opposing outside attacker is tooling the block, so we need to set our block slightly wider.”