Volleyball: Everything You Need to Know about US Volleyball

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Running from July 27 through August 11, the Volleyball tournaments at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics will be held with Men’s and Women’s medals in the Indoor, Beach and Paralympic competitions all being contested.

A total of 24 indoor and 48 beach volleyball teams are taking part in the Olympics. The indoor competitions will be held at the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles in Paris while the beach competitions will take place at the Eiffel Tower Stadium in Champ de Mars.

France headed in as the defending Men’s Gold Medal winners while the United States Women’s team won the Gold at the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo.

Volleyball Specifics

The sport of Volleyball is played by two teams of six players on a court 18 meters long and 9 meters wide. Volleyball rosters in these Olympics will now have 13 players—up from 12—allowing for one non-competing (AP) player to replace another for medical reasons. Teams are allowed to make six substitutions per set in Olympic volleyball.

The height of the net in volleyball is 7 feet, 12 inches (2.43 meters) for Men and 7 feet, 4 inches (2.24 meters) for Women. These net heights are the same in Indoor and Beach volleyball.

Once the ball is served, a team is permitted a maximum of three straight hits in order to return the ball over the net to the opponent’s side of the court. Players are allowed to use any part of their bodies above the knee to keep the ball alive and qualify as a hit. Any block at the net does not count as one of the three hits.

Volleyball matches are played in a best-of-five sets format with each set being contested until one team wins with 25 points. In order to win a set, a team needs to have those 25 points, but should one side have 25 and the other have 24, the set plays on until one of the teams has a two point lead.

Should a match require a fifth set, it is only played up to 15 points with the victorious team still needing to win by two points.

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Volleyball Positions

Setter

The setter in volleyball is a lot like a quarterback in football as this player basically runs the team’s offense. This player needs to have a delicate touch, communicate well on the court and be able to “set up” teammates to score points on returns and spikes.

Outside Hitter

The outside hitter is a very important position and is also known as the left-side hitter. This player leads the offensive attack and is counted on for spikes and scoring points. Outside hitters need to have a great vertical jump, quick reaction time and strong spiking abilities.

One of the greatest volleyball players in history, and probably the best Men’s player ever for the US, was Karch Kiraly, an outside hitter who led the Red, White and Blue to Gold Medals at the 1984 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles and the 1988 Summer Olympic Games in Seoul. Kiraly now coaches the US Women’s team.

Opposite Hitter

The opposite hitter is also a very important offensive and defensive position in this sport and is also known as the right-side hitter. Whereas outside hitters are set up more for spikes and point creation, opposite hitters need to be ready to receive serves from the opposing team, due to their position on the right side of the court and players serving right-handed. This position also requires strong jumping ability.

Middle Blocker

The middle blocker is usually the tallest of the six players on the volleyball team and serves as the first line of defense for the opposing team’s attack on the court. Also known as the middle hitter, this player needs to be able to read the opposition’s attack and put himself or herself in the right jumping spot to try to block shots and earn points on non-returnable balls.

Besides this primary defensive responsibility, middle blockers can also serve as strong offensive players and create their own opportunities to score quick points throughout a match. So although blocking is what these tall players are there for, being able to spike and score points on offense is also a big part of their game.

Libero

Wearing a different colored uniform than the rest of his or her teammates, the libero can only play on the back line and is usually the best player to receive serves from the opposing team. Liberos are good at digging balls and keeping them in play but have set rules they must follow on the court. Liberos cannot attack at the net or play a set from an opposing attacker at the net, so this is more of a perceived defensive position.

Defensive Specialist

A defensive specialist (DS) is skilled at ball control and often works with the libero from the back row. One unique thing about this position is that defensive specialists can substitute out any player on the court during a match.

Like the libero, defensive specialists are usually shorter than their teammates, play in the back row and are the last line of defense for spikes from opponents. These back row players also need to be great at digging and saving balls, be good at receiving serves as well as passing as scoring points from this position can be rare, but not impossible.

Serving Specialist

A serving specialist is a player who is subbed into a game and excels at serving and balls hard for opponent's to return. Coaches will substitute in this position for weaker serving players to try to win points when his or her team has possession and is serving. Unlike the outside hitter, opposite hitter, and middle blocker, serving specialists score most of their points off the serve from the back and not at the net.

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Some Basic Volleyball Terms

• Ace: A ball served and not returned resulting in a point from the possessing team.

• Assist: A ball passed or set for an attacking player which results in a point.

• Block: A defensive play where the ball is blocked at the net with hands above the net on spikes from the opponent. Some blocks result in points while others are kept in play.

• Dig: When a player passes or saves a fast hit or spiked ball which is low to the court.

• Double Hit: When a player intentionally or accidentally makes contact with a ball twice in a row. When this happens, the referee will stop play and the point ends.

• Foot Fault: Similar to Bowling and Tennis, this happens when a serving player steps over the serving line. The result is a point for the opposing team.

• Jump Serve: Also similar to a Tennis serve, a jump serve is when the server jumps into the air to serve the ball and hits the ball in a downward motion. The majority of players use jump serves and most aces are scored on these.

• Kill: A hit that is successful and unable to be returned, resulting in an immediate point.

• Reception Error: This happens when a player is unable to return a serve which should have been returned.

• Service Error: This happens when an unsuccessful serve lands out of bounds, doesn’t clear the net or from a foot fault.

• Side Out: This happens when the serving team loses a rally, enabling the opposing team to serve for the next point.

• Spike: When a hitter attacks the ball with a swinging motion, aiming to get a spike.

• Strong Side: The left side of the volleyball court for right-handed hitters.

• Tip: This is a soft shot done using the fingertips to place the ball in an open area.

• Volleyball Team Names: National teams playing in the Olympics and Paralympics use names of the country they are representing while professional teams, like ones in the new Women’s Pro Volleyball Federation have unique ones like the Vegas Thrill, Atlanta Vibe, Grand Rapids Rise, San Diego Mojo and Omaha Supernovas.

• Weak Side: The right side of the court.

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2024 Paris Summer Olympics US Volleyball Teams

2024 Paris Olympics US Men’s Indoor Volleyball National Team

At the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics the US Men’s National Volleyball Indoor team went 2-3 in Pool B play at Ariake Arena in Ariake and didn’t qualify for the Knockout Stage. The USA Men’s Volleyball team has won five medals in Olympic competition, three Golds (1984, 1988, 2008) and two Bronzes (1992, 2016).

In these 2024 Paris Summer Olympics the US Men’s National Volleyball Indoor team is opposite Matt Anderson, middle blocker David Smith, setter Micah Christenson, middle blocker Max Holt, outside hitter Thomas Jaeschke, libero Erik Shoji, outside hitters, TJ DeFalco, Aaron Russell and Garrett Muagututia, middle blockers Taylor Averill and Jeff Jendryk, setter Micah Ma’a, with opposite Kyle Ensing, the team’s first-ever official alternate athlete. The Head Coach is John Speraw.

The US Men’s team’s first match was Saturday, July 27 when they faced off against Argentina in Men’s Preliminary Round Pool C play at South Paris Arena 1 (Peacock, NBCOlympics.com, 3 ET/12 PT). The US Men are currently ranked No. 6 in the world.

The Men’s Volleyball Tournament will be played from Saturday, July 27 to Saturday August 10. Here is the full schedule.

The four Men’s Quarterfinals will be played on August 8, the two Semifinals will take place on August 10, the Bronze Medal Game will be on Friday, August 9 (10 am ET) with the Gold Medal Game coming early on Saturday, August 10 (7 am ET).

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2024 Paris Olympics US Women’s Indoor Volleyball National Team

In the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics the US Women’s National Volleyball Indoor team went 4-1 in Pool B play to qualify for the Knockout Stage. In that Knockout stage, the US Women eliminated the Dominican Republic in the Quarterfinals (3-0), and Serbia in the Semifinals (3-0) before defeating Brazil for the Gold Medal (3-0) in Japan. It was their first Gold ever.

The USA Women’s Indoor Volleyball team has won a total of six medals in the Olympics, that aforementioned Gold the last time out, three Silvers (1984, 2008, 2012) and two Bronzes (1992, 2016).

The USA Women’s Indoor Volleyball team In these 2024 Paris Summer Olympics is outside hitters Jordan Larson, Kelsey Robinson Cook, Kathryn Plummer and Avery Skinner, setters Jordyn Poulter and Lauren Carlini, libero Justine Wong-Orantes, opposites Annie Drews and Jordan Thompson, and middle blockers Chiaka Ogbogu, Haleigh Washington and Dana Rettke. The Head Coach is sport legend Karch Kiraly.

The US Women’s Indoor Team’s first match was on Monday, July 29 when they met China in Women’s Preliminary Round Pool A play at South Paris Arena 1 (Peacock, NBCOlympics.com, 11 am ET/8 PT). The US Women are currently ranked No. 5 in the world.

The Women’s Volleyball Tournament will be played from Sunday, July 26 to Sunday August 11 in Tokyo. Here is the full schedule.

The four Women’s Quarterfinals will be played on August 6, the two Semifinals will take place on August 8, the Bronze Medal Game will be on Saturday, August 10 (8:15 am ET) with the Gold Medal Game coming early on Sunday, August 11 (7 am ET/4 am PT).

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2024 Paris Olympics US Men’s Beach Volleyball National Team

At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics the US Men’s Beach Volleyball National Team had two teams of two players, Jake Gibb and Tri Bourne (Pool C) and Nick Lucena and Phil Dalhausser (Pool D) competing. Bourne replaced Taylor Crabb who tested positive for COVID-19.

Gibb-Bourne went 2-1 in Pool C to advance while Lucena-Dalhausser also went 2-1 as both teams qualified for the Knockout Stage. In that stage, both teams were immediately eliminated in the Round of 16.

The USA Men’s Beach Volleyball team has won three medals in the Summer Olympics, two Golds and one Silver.

For these 2024 Paris Olympics the two Team USA Men’s sides will be Andy Benesh and Miles Partain and Chase Budinger and Mike Evans. Budinger is a former University of Arizona basketball star who played in the NBA for the Pistons, Timberwolves, Pacers and Suns.

The first Men’s Preliminary match for Benesh and Partain was the was played on Saturday, July 27 against Cubans Noslen Amaro Diaz and Jorge Luis Alayo Moliner in Pool D (5 am ET) while the first match for Budinger and Evans was Monday, July 29 in Pool F (7 am ET) versus France’s Youssef Krou and Arnaud Gauthier-Rat.

The Team USA duo of Benseh and Pertain are currently ranked No. 9 in the world with Budineger and Evans sitting at No. 13 by the FIVB.

The Men’s Beach Volleyball Tournament will be played from Saturday, July 27 to Saturday August 10 at the Eiffel Tower Stadium Centre Court in Paris. Here is the full Beach Volleyball schedule.

The four Men’s Beach Volleyball Quarterfinals will be played on August 6-7, the two Semifinals will be contested on August 8, the Bronze Medal Game will be on Saturday, August 10 (12 pm ET) with the Gold Medal Game following on Saturday, August 10 (1:30 pm ET).

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2024 Paris Olympics US Women’s Beach Volleyball National Team

At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics the US Women’s Beach Volleyball National Team two teams of two players were Kelly Cheng-Sarah Sponcil and April Ross-Alix Klineman competing. Cheng-Sponcil were eliminated in the Round of 16 in Tokyo, but Ross-Klineman won the Gold Medal for the USA, beating teams from Cuba, Germany, Switzerland and Australia, all by perfect 2-0 scores.

The USA Women’s Beach Volleyball team has won six medals in the Summer Olympics, four Golds (2004, 2008, 2012, 2020), one Silver (2012) and one Bronze (2016).

In the 2024 Paris Olympics the two Team USA Women’s teams will be Taryn Kloth-Kristen Nuss and Kelly Cheng-Sara Hughes with Cheng seeking her second straight Gold.

The first Women’s Preliminary matches for Cheng-Hughes was on Sunday, July 28 facing Czech’s Barbara Hermannova-Marie-Sara Stochlova in Pool C play at the Eiffel Tower Stadium  Centre Court with Kloth-Nuss meeting Australia’s Mariafe Artacho del Solar-Taliqua Clancy in Pool B action on Monday, July 29.

The Team USA duo of Kloth-Nuss are presently ranked No. 2 by the FIVB with Cheng-Hughes tied for the No. 5 spot tied with a team from Brazil. Kloth-Nuss are also the online oddsmakers at DraftKings No. 2 favorites at 3/1 (+300) behind the world No. 1 ranked Brazilian duo of Ana Patrícia Ramos-Eduarda Santos Lisboa (Duda) (-150).

The Women’s Beach Volleyball Tournament will be played from Saturday, July 27 to Sunday August 11. Here is the full Beach Volleyball schedule.

The four Women’s Beach Volleyball Quarterfinals will be played on August 6-7, the two Semifinals will be held on August 8, the Bronze Medal Game will be on Thursday, August 9 (12 pm ET) followed by the big Gold Medal Game on Thursday, August 9 (1:30 pm ET).

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2024 Paris Summer Olympics Men’s and Women’s Paralympics Volleyball

Sitting Volleyball sees the same basic and scoring rules as Indoor and Beach Volleyball and these teams also have six players per side but the court dimensions are smaller (6m x 10m) and the net (1.15m for Men, 1.05m for Women) is lower.

All athletes must have an eligible impairment and buttocks (or backs) must always make contact with the floor.

The Team USA Roster for the Men’s Sitting National Team is Benjamin Aman, Will Curtis, Nicholas Dadgostar, Fabricio da Silva Pinto, Eric Duda, Roderick Green, John Kremer, Dan Regan, Chris Seilkop, James Stuck, Sam Surowiec, Zach Upp, and Patrick Young.

The Team USA Roster for the Women’s Sitting National Team is Katie Holloway Bridge, Whitney Dosty, Heather Erickson, Kaleo Kanahele Maclay, Monique Matthews, Emma Schieck, Lexi Shifflett-Patterson, Lora Webster-Bargellini, Tia Edwards, Nicky Nieves and Sydney Satchell.

The US Women’s team has medaled in all five Paralympics, taking the Bronze in 2004, the silver in 2008 and 2012 and the gold in 2016 and 2020. The US Men’s team has yet to win a medal.

The first match for the Women in Pool A play will come against China on August 30 (3 am ET), a team they defeated two times in the World ParaVolley Super 6 in June.

The Preliminary rounds will be played from August 29 to September 5 with the Bronze Medal Game set for September 6 and the Gold Medal Game for September 7. Here is the schedule for all of the 2024 Paralympic Games. The Paralympic Opening Ceremony will be on August 28.

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Beach ParaVolley to be Added to 2028 Los Angeles Olympics?

Two years ago in July 2022, World ParaVolley sent a proposal to the International Paralympic Committee and the LA28 Olympic & Paralympic Organizing Committee in an effort to get the sport of Beach ParaVolley added to the Los Angeles 2028 Paralympic Games.

So we can definitely expect to see Beach ParaVolley in Lalaland in 2028. And the International Federation for Paralympic Volleyball (WPV) is also lobbying to have Beach ParaVolley to be an included new medal sport for the 2032 Brisbane Paralympics.

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Where to Watch Volleyball in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games

On TV, three channels will be carrying 2024 Paris Olympics coverage, NBC, E!, and USA Network while streaming services Peacock and NBCOlympics.com will  be carrying all of the Indoor and Beach Volleyball action.

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How to Get Volleyball Tickets For 2024 Paris Olympic Games

You can purchase tickets for all Volleyball events at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympic Games at the official website or look for tickets on the secondary ticket market at places like here at TicketX where first-time users can get an additional 10% for sporting events, concerts and shows using this special savings promo code of the month.

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