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History
Volleyball is a recreational and competitive game that is played both in and out of doors by 2 teams of 6 (or in some forms of the game 4 or 2 players each) on wood, sand, or grass courts. The object of the game is to try to score points in the course of hitting a ball with the hands across a net and within the boundaries of the court so that the opposing team cannot return the ball. In its official form volleyball is played on a rectangular court 18 m (59 ft 0.75 in) long and 9 m (29 ft 6.375 in) wide; a narrow [1 m (3 ft 3 in)] net placed 2.43 m (7 ft 11 in) high for men and 2.24 m (7 ft 4.125 in) high for women is suspended across the court. The ball weighs about 280 g (8.75-9.8 oz) and is made of supple leather or rubber.
To play, each team places 3 players--left, right, and center forwards--in the front line and 3 in the rear. The right rear player is stationed out of bounds in the service area and delivers the serve with a one-handed strike. The server hits the ball over the net, and the defensive team attempts to return service before the ball hits the surface of the court, using no more than 3 hits. Theball may not be caught in the hands, and no player may hit the ball twice in succession. If a serve goes out of bounds or fails to clear the net, play stops and the opposing team gains the serve. At each change of service the players rotate one position clockwise. This procedure allows each player a chance to serve during the course of the game. A team gets 1 point for each successful offensive rally--and the first team to score 25 points wins the game, except when the score is tied at 24. In this case the team that leads the other by 2 points first win the game.
Volleyball was invented in 1895 by YMCA physical fitness director William G. Morgan, in Holyoke, Mass. Morgan hoped that his game of "mintonette" would be a welcome substitute for basketball, a sport too strenuous for many of the older men he instructed. After World War II volleyball skills and distinct offensive and defensive patterns came into wide use. The game gained great popularity, and in 1947 a governing body, the International Volleyball Federation, was formed.
Competitive teams play power volleyball, a style of play introduced by the Japanese that demands that players dive and roll on the floor to recover shots and jump high to "spike" returns. Volleyball became an Olympic sport in 1964, and power volleyball teams dominated international competitions. Now all international teams have adopted this style. Beach volleyball, which is played by teams of two players on a regulation-size court on sand, became an Olympic sport in 1996.
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