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Think you know your way around the volleyball court? From its surprising origins to the sandy beaches, test your knowledge on this classic net game!
Bench Warmer 0–4 · Solid Server 5–8 · Court Legend 9–10
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In the movie Cast Away, Tom Hanks' character survives on an island with a Wilson-branded volleyball as his only companion, painting a face on it with his own blood. The ball became so famous that one of the original props used in the film sold at an auction for over three hundred thousand dollars.
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Both basketball and volleyball were born in Massachusetts just a few miles and four years apart. James Naismith invented basketball in Springfield in 1891, and William G. Morgan invented volleyball in Holyoke in 1895. Morgan actually designed volleyball to be less physically demanding than basketball for older players.
Photo: Hayes, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain.
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This specialized defensive player is called the libero. To keep the game balanced, the libero is restricted to the back row and cannot perform offensive attacks, serve, or block. Interestingly, the position was only introduced to the game in 1998 to make rallies last longer.
Photo: Fernando Frazão/Agência Brasil, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0 br.
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William G. Morgan invented the game in Massachusetts as a gentle indoor alternative to basketball. He called it Mintonette because it shared some similarities with badminton. A local professor later noticed the volleying action of the ball and suggested the name we all use today.
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Each team gets up to three touches, usually a pass, a set and a spike, to send the ball back over the net. A touch during a block does not count as one of the three, so a team that blocks still has three more touches to work with.
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Beach volleyball is played two against two on sand, with no substitutes. Both players must do everything: pass, set, attack and block. Beach volleyball joined the Olympics in 1996 in Atlanta.
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The Soviet Union took the gold in Tokyo when indoor volleyball made its grand Olympic debut. Japan won the bronze in the men's tournament but famously secured the gold in the women's event, sparking a massive national boom in the sport.
Photo: Japan Post, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain.
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In 1916, players in the Philippines developed an offensive style of passing the ball high in the air to be hit by another player (the set and spike). The Filipinos called the spike the 'bomba' and the hitter a 'bomberino'.
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The FIVB was founded in Paris, France, by representatives from fourteen different nations. Although its headquarters moved to Lausanne, Switzerland, in 1984, France remains a historic cornerstone of the sport's global organization.
Photo: Christophe95, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
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Initially, players used the inside bladder of a basketball, but it was too light and slow. William G. Morgan asked the Spalding company to design a specific ball. They created a three-layer leather ball that set the standard for the sport's weight and bounce.
Photo: Petar Milošević, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
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