INTRODUCTION Tn n2004 the Peace and Friendship Stadium in Athens was packed with Olympic fans excited to watch the men's volley ball quarterfinal match between the United States and Greece It was an eagerly antici pated match not only because it involved the Olympic host country's team but also because two years earlier at the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball FIVB World Championships Greece had beaten the United States in a thrilling upset In Athens after dropping two of the first three sets to Greece the U S team again found itself behind in the fourth set of the match at one point trailing Greece by a seemingly insur mountable 12 20 margin If Greece won the set they would win the match and advance on In a bold move the U S team coach Doug Beal made the difficult decision to take out star setter and three time Olympian Lloy Ball and replace him with a younger player Donald Suxho The gamble worked and with
ARNET A member of Greece's volleyball team spikes the ball against the U S team during the men's quarterfinal match at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens The thrilling match ended with a U S win Al Bello Getty Images
VoLLEYBALL AND ITS GREATEST PLAYERS Ball encouraging his teammates from the sidelines the Americans rallied to win the fourth set 25 23 Ball returned to the match as a substitute server in the fifth set which the U S team won 17 15 to complete one of the most dramatic comebacks in Olympic volleyball history As that classic match in Athens showed volleyball is a sport that depends both on the strengths of the individual players and the way players work together as a team Unlike the majority of team competitive sports opposing teams in volleyball don t have any physical con tact with each other Instead the two teams of six players are separated by a net Despite this limited contact volleyball can be one of the most fast paced and exciting of team sports Each team member has a specific skill set and each must work together in perfect communi cation to receive the ball and return it over the net They must dive jump and run across the court with strength and agility Volleyball originated in the United States over one hundred years ago Since then it has rapidly grown in popularity around the world According to sports blog Sporteology volleyball is the sixth most popular sport in the world with around 800 million partici pants globally In the United States the sport
INTRODUCTION has also achieved popularity particularly at the high school and college levels In indoor volleyball a large percentage of the par ticipants are female In fact according to a 2013 National High School Athletics Survey for every high school boy playing volleyball there are eight more girls In the sport of beach volleyball the gender divide is less This book will explore some of the basic rules and strategies of the game of volleyball It will provide a history of how the game was first invented and its exciting evolution into a globally played sport and a major event at the Summer Olympics It will also look at the different skills that all volleyball players must master and the different positions players may specialize in on the court It will explore Some of the differences between the sports of indoor volleyball and beach volleyball and look at some of the truly great players in each sport While there are masters of volleyball around the world the focus of this book will be primarily on those from the United States From beach volleyball to the indoor court volleyball has brought thrilling victories and stunning upsets masterful athletes and feats of athleticism For hundreds of millions of fans around the world it is an exciting game to watch and even more fun to
