Trends and Team Observations From Week One
Practice only simulates so much, when matches start is when teams really start to see their strengths as well as their areas of improvement. We watch A LOT of volleyball at Prep Dig, we’re huge volleyball nerds. We watch high school matches and then most likely watch a match on TV now that the college season has kicked off. Watching a lot of volleyball, especially from the mind of someone with coaching or playing experience, the patterns of what we see in teams definitely jump out. Here are just a few things I’ve seen in the first week of volleyball after a full week at the FVA Fall Classic, Sun Prairie Invite, and two matches at the Green Bay Phoenix Invite.
Serve Receive
In basketball, there are the sayings “Offense wins games, Defense wins championships” or if you want to get really detailed, “Offense sells tickets, Defense wins games, Rebounding wins championships”. If I could twist that into volleyball, I would say, “Offense sells tickets, defense wins games, but SERVE RECEIVE wins championships”. The teams who consistently win are able to serve receive and instantly get their offense in system. Passers are typically rated on a three-point scale, it’s the easiest stat to measure how someone is passing out of serve receive and will ultimately tell the story of who should be in serve receive (3 being a perfect pass giving the setter three options, 2 for two options, etc.). The key to serve receive is calling the ball early. Watching Green Bay play this past weekend, they were calling the serve before it crossed the net, saying “5-6” because that’s what zone it was heading to. Communication and trust is also a necessity when teams are trying to serve the seam (the spot between two people in serve receive). Often times, you’ll hear the passers call “Seam Left” or “Seam Right”. There are many types of rules that teams will abide by in serve receive and who has what ball. This is all before they have actually passed the ball. Coaches will spend a large amount of time practicing serving and serve receive, after all, serving is the first way to score a point in volleyball.
Trust
It’s not that teammates don’t trust each other, they just need more repetition playing next to each other to know who will play certain balls. For example, an outside hitter and a libero often times will have a ball go between them. When the ball is between two players, that is oftentimes called a “50-50” ball where it could equally go to either player. However, as the season progresses and rotations are solidified, there is a sense of trust between certain positions where they know who takes those “50-50” balls. The teams that have played together and have returners are much further along at this point in the season.
Tip Coverage
Some athletes who have a high volleyball IQ can just pick apart a defense. They see the open spots and sometimes all it takes is a tip to score a point. Teams will work on their base defense time and time again and when you are facing some of the top outside hitters in the state, the defenders are ready for the hard swing. However, when that roll shot or tip comes, it all happens in slow motion for the defense. As the season progresses, the defense will be able to read those shots, they will have more repetition at reading hitters (especially where their elbow is when they attack – chances are there won’t be a hard attack when the arm is straight up).
Body Language
I’m a huge fan of Iowa State volleyball and what Christy Johnson has done with her program there. When they were making some of their early runs in the NCAA Tournament, time and time again they would say, “Whether we are up ten points or down ten we want to maintain the same body language and intensity.” Maybe not a direct quote, but the mindset is what sticks. This is so hard to train. Plenty of mental training, coaching the mindset, and teams learning to play in various situations helps to maintain consistent body language. In the game of volleyball, momentum is such a major part, teams need to maintain positive body language and energy at all times. Again, it’s tough to train, but this is the time of the year teams will learn how to respond if they are down 6-0 to start or if they are up 23-18 and drop the set. It happens, this is such an important part of the year to maintain the energy no matter what the scoreboard is telling them.