Having A Ball Playing Volleyball

Having+A+Ball+Playing+Volleyball

Hanna Al-Aloosi, Staff Writer

Remember all those times watching volleyball and thinking, How could they do that? How is it humanly possible to keep track of all of this going on? Well, everyone, the mystery is finally being revealed.

“I’ve done volleyball for years, and it was one of my favorite things to do.” Delaney Hollar, a junior at EHS, speaks of her former time as a player. “People would question me and be like ‘How did you do that?’” For Hollar, the answer is quite simple: “Just practice and have fun with it!”

Volleyball is a technical sport but can be broken down into simple terms: Two teams–each consisting of six players–face off with an interjecting net between them. All twelve players have the mission of keeping the ball off their side of the net. Obviously, the rules are more complicated. However, boiling it down, the top five rules are as follows: 

  1. Ball may be served over- or underhanded
  2. Ball must be in clear sight of all players before serving
  3. Server must serve from behind the end line
  4. The served ball is allowed to graze the net and land on the opponent’s side to earn a point
  5. A serve must be returned by a bump, no setting or spiking.

In volleyball, there are certain skills players must partake in to evolve in the game. Those skills include serving, setting, passing, spiking, blocking and digging. Wow! That consists of a lot of hands-on work.. Most know that serving is when the server has to make quick and hard contact with the ball to start a volley. And, setting is a form of overhead passing, while having one’s hands raised above the head to hit the volleyball with the pads of the fingertips. Passing–the definition right in the term–is to pass along the volleyball by “bumping,” which is using the forearms. 

“My personal favorite is spiking!” Hollar admits. “It gets the job done quick and easy.” Hollar elaborates by explaining that spiking is when the players can jump and hit the ball as hard as possible towards the floor for a quick point. Blocking and digging, on the other hand, are both defensive moves that stop the opposing team from making a point by deflecting the ball, except that digging is very similar to diving.  Although she no longer plays competitively, Hollar still enjoys the game.

“Volleyball is a great sport, ” she concludes, “and if you want to try something new, you really should  try volleyball!”  One need not be a member of the school’s team to get involved. Try joining a local league or beach volleyball group. For that matter, just pick up a volleyball and start a pick-up game in the backyard. There are a million ways and places to play the game. Who knows, maybe someone from Elkhart High School will be the next Karch Kiraly or Kerri Walsh Jennings!