Having never covered volleyball before...

[sportschick]

Caveat emperor when it comes to coach-supplied stats. You'll find many of them don't have a clue how to score or inflate numbers. Kills are the best indicator of dominance. Points is overrated because that just means you were the server when the point was scored.

I work with a woman who played college volleyball. She gets hostile when anybody tries to use service points as a stat in a story. She says it's about the most useless stat that exists.

 

[outofplace]

Caveat emperor when it comes to coach-supplied stats. You'll find many of them don't have a clue how to score or inflate numbers. Kills are the best indicator of dominance. Points is overrated because that just means you were the server when the point was scored.

I work with a woman who played college volleyball. She gets hostile when anybody tries to use service points as a stat in a story. She says it's about the most useless stat that exists.

She's right. It is completely useless. Unfortunately, that is the only statistic some high school coaches are capable of handling, especially in the Northeast where the sport just isn't very popular or well developed.

 

[micropolitan guy]

It's like baseball; a hitting percentage of .300 is considered the benchmark of excellence.

 

[butchie]

Caveat emperor when it comes to coach-supplied stats. You'll find many of them don't have a clue how to score or inflate numbers. Kills are the best indicator of dominance. Points is overrated because that just means you were the server when the point was scored.

I work with a woman who played college volleyball. She gets hostile when anybody tries to use service points as a stat in a story. She says it's about the most useless stat that exists.

Service aces are a big deal however. Also try to learn which players play throughout the rotation, and which players are front row and back row specialists.

 

[Eagleboy]

I work with a woman who played college volleyball. She gets hostile when anybody tries to use service points as a stat in a story. She says it's about the most useless stat that exists.

This is true. When I played, the only thing I could ever do was serve well and hit my spots ... and most good players can do that with no problem. You're serving because your team scored, something that, if you're serving, you probably had little to do with.

 

[chazp]

You might check with the coach afterwards and see if they will give you stats. Most coaches keep up with as many as five main stats, aces, assists, blocks, digs and kills. Aces and kills are plays that produce points. Most Kills are assisted by a setter, who puts the ball into the air for a hitter (an outside hitter or a middle blocker) to "Kill." Blocks can be tricky, because some coaches keep up with scoring and non-scoring blocks. Digs are a defensive stat, "digging" the ball up from a spike (kill attempt) and keeping the ball in play and preventing the other team from scoring. Besides kill percentage, some coaches keep up with "bad sets" or a pass from the setter that was out of reach of a hitter, and they will give a percentage of good sets of attempted sets.

 

[Cadet]

Caveat emperor when it comes to coach-supplied stats. You'll find many of them don't have a clue how to score or inflate numbers. Kills are the best indicator of dominance. Points is overrated because that just means you were the server when the point was scored.

I work with a woman who played college volleyball. She gets hostile when anybody tries to use service points as a stat in a story. She says it's about the most useless stat that exists.

She's right. It is completely useless. Unfortunately, that is the only statistic some high school coaches are capable of handling, especially in the Northeast where the sport just isn't very popular or well developed.

I agree completely, but the coaches (and parents) just love that stat. I never use it unless the consecutive points served is in double digits.

 

[HackyMcHack]

I agree completely, but the coaches (and parents) just love that stat. I never use it unless the consecutive points served is in double digits.

And I never use service points in a story unless someone runs the table. Service points are not part of the NCAA stat sheet. Although, at one school I covered, their "superfan" made it a point to tell the players after the match how many service points each of them had. I felt sorry for him.

 

[Cadet]

I agree completely, but the coaches (and parents) just love that stat. I never use it unless the consecutive points served is in double digits.

And I never use service points in a story unless someone runs the table. Service points are not part of the NCAA stat sheet. Although, at one school I covered, their "superfan" made it a point to tell the players after the match how many service points each of them had. I felt sorry for him.

I'm sure somehow he thought that would help him get laid.

Every school's got one, don't they?

 

[suburbanite]

I think I've covered about two college vball matches, and one was when I was IN college.

As has been referenced on this thread, the thing I hated was it was the one sport on the h.s. level where I really couldn't keep my own stats and had to trust the teams. I always looked for the momentum-changing run because I felt I could explain it, as opposed to the technical stuff.

 

[Tom Petty]

Interview the girl with the biggest visible camel toe and get the **** out of there...

forgive my ignorance, but what's a "camel toe?"

if this http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=camel+toe doesn't help, maybe the 15 photos that go with it will.

i still kinda giggle, just a little bit, at the white dragon, definition No. 1, of course.

 

[outofplace]

Interview the girl with the biggest visible camel toe and get the **** out of there...

forgive my ignorance, but what's a "camel toe?"

if this http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=camel+toe doesn't help, maybe the 15 photos that go with it will.

i still kinda giggle, just a little bit, at the white dragon, definition No. 1, of course.

I'm afraid to open that at work, but I'm guessing pictures of camel toe should have a NSFW label on them.

 

[Double J]

See the associated ads on the right? Along with the obligatory ads for pictures of women in tight pads, there's also one for "labial reduction and trim - look and feel better about yourself."

 

[slappy4428]

Make sure you understand that assists can only come off of hits that went for points, not just hits.
We had a coach around here who called in results one night that had her setter earning 75 assists as her team scored 75 points in a three-game match... Had to gently explain to her that she needed to inform her JV kids keeping stats that this was unpossible...

 

[Bruhman]

Interview the girl with the biggest visible camel toe and get the **** out of there...

forgive my ignorance, but what's a "camel toe?"

if this http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=camel+toe doesn't help, maybe the 15 photos that go with it will.

i still kinda giggle, just a little bit, at the white dragon, definition No. 1, of course.

Thanks for the knowledge. I didn't know a camel's toe looks like that.

 

[Gold]

watch how the teams try to attack and score points... usually, one hitter will be the main person they go to, but there will also be fakes.

In a close match, missed opportunities to close out the match are an important part of the story.

When played well, volleyball is an enjoyable sport to watch.

 

[Trey Beamon]

Interview the girl with the biggest visible camel toe and get the **** out of there...

forgive my ignorance, but what's a "camel toe?"

if this http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=camel+toe doesn't help, maybe the 15 photos that go with it will.

i still kinda giggle, just a little bit, at the white dragon, definition No. 1, of course.

Well, this thread just took a sharp turn off the freeway.

 

[slappy4428]

Interview the girl with the biggest visible camel toe and get the **** out of there...

forgive my ignorance, but what's a "camel toe?"

if this http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=camel+toe doesn't help, maybe the 15 photos that go with it will.

i still kinda giggle, just a little bit, at the white dragon, definition No. 1, of course.

Well, this thread just took a sharp turn off the freeway.

Are you surprised, considering who was driving when it made the turn???

 

[Angola!]

Petty's not at fault for trying to help Bruhman out.

 

[Angola!]

Interview the girl with the biggest visible camel toe and get the **** out of there...

forgive my ignorance, but what's a "camel toe?"

if this http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=camel+toe doesn't help, maybe the 15 photos that go with it will.

i still kinda giggle, just a little bit, at the white dragon, definition No. 1, of course.

I'm afraid to open that at work, but I'm guessing pictures of camel toe should have a NSFW label on them.

The only NSFW picture I saw was No. 7. Just think former Utah Utes men's basketball coach.