![]() ![]() To provide examples, I have attached links to the timestamp of the 2021 NCAA D1 championship between the University of Hawaii Rainbow Warriors and the Brigham Young University Cougars. But because their table does not include the players’ positions, I have appended them in my own table of the top 50 that is attached at the bottom. A link to the published data, compiled by the NCAA, is attached here. Although titled Hitting Percentage, the result is presented as a 3-digit decimal between 1 (100% kills) and -1 (100% errors). In other words, it is net points gained per swing attempt. Hitting percentage is defined as kills minus errors divided by total attempts. When a player spikes the ball, there are three outcomes: a kill (where the one or fewer players on the opposing team touch the ball before losing the point), an error (the spiking team immediately loses the ball out of bounds or is blocked), or a continued point (where the opposing team digs the ball). We will begin by looking at the NCAA’s 2021 top 100 players as ranked by “Hitting Percentage” to identify patterns for analysis. Because this analysis is focused on the last hit in the volleyball sequence, I will be primarily discussing outsides, right sides, and middles. Attached is an article discussing these positions in more depth if you would like to read further. ![]() Focused only on defense, they are the shortest position, often the strongest returners and diggers, and indicated with a uniform of a different color than the rest of the team. Finally, there is the Libero (L), which is a special position. Opposite Hitters (Right Sides or OPP) are similar to outsides, but there is usually only one per team, and he hits opposite the setter and is also usually a lefty. Because a lot of spiking involves extremely precise timing and aiming to as many as 5 players at once, specialists at setter are necessary to succeed. Setters are one of two shorter positions and focus only on the second touch, which sets the ball before it is spiked. In addition to taking much of the offensive load, outsides play both front and back row, and do a lot of the digging (returning spikes) and receiving (returning serves). Next are the Outside Hitters (OH or outsides), who are generally shorter than the middles. They are traditionally the tallest players, pinning down blocks and hits in the front row. First, we have the Middle Blocker (also sometimes called Middle Hitters, MBs, or middles). Not every spike, nor every spiker is the same, and in this article, I will explain some of the phenomena that I observed while performing some formal analysis of published performance data across the men’s highest college level.īefore digging into the available data, however, let us review what the positions in volleyball are and how performances are commonly measured. You may even understand the ideal possession: bump, set, spike! But even a single spike, when an offensive player smashes the ball to the opponent’s floor, is much more complex than you may have realized. The sense ‘to rise suddenly or quickly’ was first used in the 1950s.You are probably familiar with volleyball’s most iconic action, the spike. The colloquial sense ‘to add alcohol to a drink’ dates back to the late 19th century, while the journalism sense, ‘to kill a story,’ is from the early 20th century. The military sense, ‘to disable guns with a nail,’ was first used in the late 17th century (it has been used figuratively since the 1920s). The verb, originally meaning ‘to fasten with spikes,’ dates back to the early 17th century, and comes from the noun. ![]() ![]() The electrical meaning ‘a short pulse’ dates back to the early 20th century, and this sense expanded to any sharp or sudden rise by the mid-20th century. Spike is related to the Middle Dutch spicher and the Dutch spijker (nail), the Old High German speihha (spoke), the Latin spica (ear of corn), spina (thorn, prickle or backbone) and pinna (pin), the Greek spilas (rock or cliff), the Lettish spile (wooden fork), and the Lithuanian speigliai (thorns) and spitna (tongue of a buckle), as well as the English words pin, spoke, splinter and spit. It can be traced back to the Proto-Germanic spikaz and the Proto-Indo-European root spei– (sharp point). It came into English from a Scandinavian source, such as the Old Norse spik (splinter) or the Middle Swedish spijk (nail), though it may have also been influenced by the Latin spica (ear of grain). Spike, meaning ‘a large nail,’ dates back to the mid-14th century. ![]()
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