Learn a little bit more about how volleyball statistics are calculated.
ACE
- When the opposing team doesn’t play the ball at all
- When the opposing team plays the ball, but a second contact is uncontrollable
- For every ace, the opponent MUST have a reception error. Only ONE error per ace
ASSIST
- In order to receive a setting assist, the ball must go down for the kill. You can never have more assists than kills
- Rarely do the total assists equal the total kills, since they are registered on balls that are put back down on the opponent’s side from overpasses, etc
- In order to receive a setting assist, the ball must have been attacked, not blocked.
- Assists are given to the person that immediately touched the ball prior to the attacker getting the kill. This can be any player, backrow included, and not just the setter
ATTACK
- Attack is the term used for the strategic hit, not the power used on the play
- Any ball played over the net in an attempt to score a point should be considered an attack
- An attack is awarded off a tipped ball — it doesn’t have to be a hard-hit attack in order to count
- Desperation hits or those simply to keep the ball alive count as free balls and no attack is awarded and no dig is given to the opponent
- Attack errors are:
- Hits the ball out of bounds (even a ‘free ball’ that goes over the net and out)
- Hits the ball into the net resulting in a four-hit violation
- Blocked down by the opponent to the same side as the attacker, and cannot be kept in play
- Goes into the net
- Is called for a center-line fault
- Is called for an illegal contact on the attack
- Is called for an antenna fault
- Is called for a 3-meter (10’) line violation (backrow hitter in front of the 10’ line)
- Is called for a thrown ball or an illegal hit during an attack attempt
KILL
- A kill is awarded on an attack that goes down for a point
- Kills from overpasses look like blocks, but they are not, the are kills for the attacker
- A kill is awarded to a player any time an attack is unreturnable by the opposition and is a direct cause of the opponent not returning the ball
- A kill is awarded any time the attack leads directly to a blocking error by the opposition
- A reception or dig that goes over the net and lands in the opponent’s court is a kill
BLOCK
- A block is never awarded unless play stops and a point is awarded
- A block is NOT awarded on a touched attack that is kept in play by either team
- A blocking attempt in which a player blocks the ball out of bounds, does NOT result in a blocking error – that action counts as a kill for the opponent
- A blocking error is a call made by an official that ends play
- A blocker goes into the net
- A blocker is called for a center-line fault
- A blocker is called for reaching over the net
- A back-row player is called for blocking
- A blocker is called for a thrown ball during a block
- Note: A kill is awarded to the attacking team when a blocking error is charged to the defending team.
- A solo block is awarded if one player went up for the block. Block assists are awarded if two or more players go up for the block, even if only one makes contact with the ball
- Blocks can NEVER total more than the opponent’s hitting errors
DIG
- A dig is when a player passes a ball that was attacked by the opponent
- A dig is never awarded when a team brings up a ball that remains on their side of the net via a blocking action (commonly called a cover or a “putback”)
- A dig can result from bringing up a tipped ball, not just a hard-hit attack
- A serve reception does not count as a dig
- In the situation where a player digs the ball and the next player kills the ball, award the player who dug the ball the dig and the assist
- Team A’s digs CANNOT total more than the opponent’s total attacks minus their kills and errors. Those are the ONLY balls that can be dug.
Keeping Stats
- One team’s blocks will also be reflected in the opponent’s hitting errors.
- Aces must equal the opponent’s serve reception errors.
- Don’t give two players a reception error on the same serve. It must go to one person or the team.
- Digs cannot be more than the total attacks that did not go down for kills or errors.
- A block MUST be off an attacked ball and MUST go down for a point.