Volleyball players get specialized on court

[KFDM COOP]

Volleyball players get specialized on court

The game of volleyball involves more than just tall players in tights who hit balls back-and-forth over a net.

Players are doing things at levels that would have been called impossible a decade ago - it's a sport that is rapidly changing.

"Volleyball has become a specialized sport," said Hamshire-Fannett coach Debbie Peltier, whose team hosts Silsbee at 7 p.m. today. "Positions are as specific as a dentist or orthodontist. All six players on the floor have their own individual duty that they are responsible for."

A player's main objective is to hit the ball over the net and make it land inside the court.

But the tricky part of the game is when players have to set the ball's direction, speed and acceleration so it becomes difficult for the receiver to handle it properly.

"Some people don't know how tough it is to dig some of the balls," said Port Neches-Groves coach Barbara Comeaux. "They just don't understand the velocity when balls are coming at top speed on a spin or floating. There is a lot of technique involved in getting the ball back across the net."

Not only has the style of the game changed, but the rules have too.

After colleges and club leagues changed their scoring rules, high schools made the transition in 2002. High school teams now compete in rally play, which consists of the best three out of five games to 25 points. If a fifth game is needed, the score goes to 15 points in the previous sideout scoring method.

Colleges play the best three-out of five games to 30 points.

"There have been a lot of big changes to the sport over the years," said Silsbee coach Dana Thornton. "We used to play the best two out of three games to 15 points, but now we have rally scoring. Every team also has a libero since the rules changed."

A libero is a player specialized in defensive skills.

Liberos, who wear a different jersey color from teammates, cannot block or attack the ball when it is entirely above net height.

"The rules have changed again this year," Thornton said. "Liberos can now serve the ball. They couldn't serve before this season."

Despite the amount of rule changes over the years, Peltier didn't think it was a tough adjustment for coaches.

The Hamshire-Fannett coach, who has led her team to an undefeated District 21-3A record, believed the toughest part about being a coach is getting her team to understand her philosophy about the game.

"Everybody wants to play all the way around when they first join the team," Peltier said. "But you really can't. A team wins more games when each player is in charge of a specific thing. The hardest thing to keep going is the momentum, because players are rotated in and out and it's basically like a new team on the floor."

Coaches agree momentum is very important to a team, but they understand a game plan is always needed to win games. Coaches evaluate their players to determine their physical ability before games. They scout other teams to determine their strengths and weaknesses and inform their players of any changes in a game plan.

"We run offensive and defensive plays just like any other sport," Thornton said. "When a ball is dead, coaches have impact on what will be done next. Volleyball is a technical sport, and a lot of strategy is involved."