By Tamara Hoyt
By Tamara Hoyt
Male, 21 seeks tall, athletic, strong female with well formed…serves and set shots?
No, our male is not a helpless pervert, rather a trapped soul suffering from volleymania, or a crazed obsession with volleyball. In an attempt to earn him a lady friend, I have compiled some interesting facts about the game along with the basic need-to-know rules to get you through a game.
Volleyball was invented in February of 1895 in Massachusetts by William Morgan, a Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) physical education director. Both basketball and volleyball were invented in Massachusetts by the YMCA, within a 10-mile span of each other.
Originally referred to as mintonette, volleyball was an invention of necessity. With the addition of basketball to the sports books only four years earlier, a game was needed for older members of the YMCA who couldn’t handle the brutality of basketball, but still wanted its health benefits.
The field of play is broken up into two nine-by-nine squares separated by a net 2.5 meters off the ground. Each team resides in their own square, which is referred to as their attack area.
There is a line 3 meters from and parallel to the net in each team court which is considered the attack line. This 3-meter line divides the court into a back row and front row area.
Outside of the nine-by-nine squares, there is a 3-meter boundary. This area is designated for play, but not for attack. This means that if a player accidentally hits the ball outside of the area, a teammate must recover the ball into the attack area before it can be returned to the opponent’s side.
If a team hits the ball into this dead area and a player on the other team does not touch the ball, it is considered dead.
The game is played with six players on the court for each team. Three play on the back row and three play on the front row. The players each have a numbered position. The player at position one is the server. At the beginning of the game and at each change of possession, a serve is made.
Points are scored each time there is an error made. Errors include the ball touching the ground, or a defensive player (back-row) making an offensive hit or hitting the ball while it is above the net.
The first team to score 25 points with a two-point margin against the other team wins the set. A game consists of five sets. The team that wins a majority, at least three, wins the game. Scoring differs between leagues, tournaments, and levels. In the NCAA games are played best-of-five to 30.
The next game for the Tigers is Dec. 2, at 7 p.m., in the Huntley Gym at RCC.
