VOLLEYBALL 

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The following Newsletter has been forwarded to you, from the Volleyball Newsletter  E-Mail list. The UK's leading on line Volleyball News service, providing up to date volleyball information, direct to newsletter members throughout the UK and Ireland. Articles are collected from a variety of sources and credited appropriately. The Volleyball Newsletter uses advertising sponsorship to support our free and non-profit making service to newsletter members. To advertise your volleyball events or products, direct to players, club and league secretaries throughout the UK & Ireland, then please see our web site for details or contact Dave at  Dave.Reece@volleyballnewsletter.com

Hi all - More Volleyball news from the web.

Happy new year to everyone, this years calendar is beginning to fill up, we already have over 50 UK & Ireland tournaments and competitions listed. Check out our web site for the full list and start to plan your summer campaign. If you are running an event that is not currently listed, then please get in contact with us.

Cheers - Dave Reece Dave.Reece@volleyballnewsletter.com

Dave, Do you know who I could contact for more details on the above?? I know it's being held in Porec, Coratia, from May 13th to 18th 2002. By sheer luck I'll be in Croatia that week, so want to find out about tickets, venues, prices etc., etc.

Regards,
Geoff Main, HermitageVC@aol.com

Dave, I am looking for a volleyball screensaver, and was hoping to find a good one on the web, does anyone have one.

Jeremy Hart jehart1@vt.edu

If you have volleyball video and you want to exchange it, please contact me. We have a lot of volleyball video.

Nick jirapornsawat@yahoo.com

Dave, For your information

Friday 1st February - Friday 8th Team Australia Junior Men will be in England. Hosted by England Junior Men at National Sports Training Center Heyford, Upper Heyford, Oxfordshire from 1st - 6th with Scotland coming down on Monday 4th.

Visit will consist of training, scrimmages, matches and schools coaching. A triangular match (Aus/Eng/USAF) at RAF Croughton, Northants will be played on Saturday 2nd. Further details can be obtained from England Junior Men staff.

Wednesday 6th after scrimmaging v Scotland (am) at Upper Heyford the Aussies will travel to Kent.

Wednesday 6th - 1930 v Kent at Buckmore Park, Chatham
Thursday 7th - 1930 v University of Kent @Canterbury

Events in Kent have been funded by Kent Sports Development Unit, Kent Reliance Building Society, PfizerUK and SportsMatch. 

Regards Tom Middleton middy@5malthouse.freeserve.co.uk

A number of you have jazzed up your club web site for the festive season but the best I've seen this year is the Newbridge VC site at:  http://www.newbridgevolleyball.com/ 

PS: Watch the volume.

Anyone know of any ref training video's and where I might get one? Thanks.

Tom Carroll ts_carroll@hotmail.com

Photos from the 4 Nations are now live at http://www.scottishvolleyball.org/gallery.html 

Lynne muggles@ntlworld.com

England went into the final day of the Scottish Four Nations Tournament unbeaten, after a come-from-behind 3-1 victory over the host nation. Matt
Jones was the principal difference between the sides, leading his team in kill-blocks and proving extremely difficult to handle out of the right side
of the court. However they must face Latvia minus influencial middle blocker Alex Bialokoz, who was sensationally red-carded at the death in the
match with Scotland. After leading the side to a straight sets victory over Cyprus in their opener, a match in which Bialokoz won his 100th international cap, the big centre man was left in disgrace as he protested a line call at 23-15 in England's favour. Referee Brian McDougall awarded a penalty point against Bialokoz, who responded with an elaborate kow-tow, leaving the official with no option but to produce the red card.

Hosts Scotland will look for a consolation victory over Cyprus in the other match, but having led 2-1 against Latvia in their opener, and led
20-17 in the intervening set, the Scots may feel aggrieved not to have at least one victory to their credit already.

Badgerstripe badgerstripe@blueyonder.co.uk

Dave, I'm hoping you can help me a little. I've heard a rumor going round about there being a new volleyball magazine coming out in England but I cannot find out if this is true and if so, when it is coming out! I've also been told that it's due out in January 2002 sometime and that it's going to be a bit different than all before. Could you or someone on your site help me please, because I'm sure everyone will want to know about it. And I for one will be buying it if there is one!

Cheers
Daniel Reeves danielsreeves@hotmail.com

3Touch volleyball

Dear Dave, It is doubtful that spike's publishers will produce anymore issues of Spike; they kept it going probably longer than most publishers would have done. 

When the chances of keeping Spike going looked slim, I approached both the EVA and SVA to see if there was any way we could keep a volleyball publication going. It coincided with a time that the EVA were considering rationalising their publications. Over time this has developed and yes they are producing a new publication which I am editing, Douglas Barr Hamilton, previously editor of the EVA's news update, is subediting, Daniel Reeves, the EVA's new Communication and Commercial Officer is on the team and will be handling advertising and the media and it will be published by the EVA. Publications like the Whistler and Volleycoach which go to registered coaches and referees, will continue but can be produced as and when needed and won't be tied to a specific mailing times.

The first issue is out at the end of January and the publication is called 3 Touch volleyball; it is a TabMag as it is smaller than a tabloid but will be carrying feature and articles of a magazine genre. It is possible that there maybe some link with Spike but this has yet to be discussed.
3Touch is bimonthly and some copies will go to registered EVA clubs, referees and coaches but there is also the possibility of getting copies by subscription. One of the main aims of 3Touch is to communicate so the subscriptions have deliberately been held low and there is the possibility of low bulk prices for clubs. For information on 3Touch: info@3touchvolleyball.co.uk

The first issue has just gone to the printers and is very full - Beach Tips from Denise Austin, Simon Golding reports on the Scotland v England match with his usual wit and Jenni Taylor give an excellent match report from the Novotel Cup, Craig Handford talks about the development of International experience and Jefferson Williams offers thoughts on the Premier League. Ian Legrand and Fiona Martindale discuss a conditioning regime suitable for club athletes, Maria Bertelli talks about her life as a professional volleyball player and Yssir Sliti talks about life as a student athlete in the States. And more!

Barbara Totterdell  btrial@btinternet.com

Hi Dave, Wonder if the following dates / events could be added to your calendar please? 

March 8, 9 & 10 British Universities Championship and Shield Finals, Loughborough University 
March 16 & 17 British Universities Home Nations Championships, Manchester University 
April 8 & 9 Civil Service Festival Loughborough University 
May 4 & 5 Civil Service Invitational Leeds University 

In 2002 we hope to launch web sites for both Civil Service and British Universities. 

Regards 
Lenny Barry LENNYBARRY@aol.com

1st "tournaments" / 2nd "tournaments 2002" / 3rd "poole" / 4th "mikasa beach" / 5th "asterix".

If you are organising an events or are running a coaching or refereeing course, make sure your event is well publicised. If your forthcoming event was not listed in our search statistics, you may be lacking Brand Awareness?

I'm sitting in here on a cold grey December day and was just wondering where are all the volleyball web cams showing warm/hot blue skies with people playing VB? If you post details of any volleyball web cams you know, I'll build a list onto our website so that anyone, anywhere can try and find someone playing ball summer or winter.

Saul Dobney saul.dobney@dobney.com

I have a couple of the volleyball / beach web cams links on my site. Go to http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/Loge/5057/maininfo.htm
Click the Massive Volleyball links at the upper part of the page and at the bottom of the page you get is a link to my volleyball Web cams
page The direct link is http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/Loge/5057/vbwebcam.htm but there may be other stuff in the massive links area that could be of interest.

Also I remember this site http://www.bitvit.com but I am not sure if it goes year round also these site http://www.belmarcam.com/eventarchive.html & http://www.www-net.com/goodstuff/beach-nf.html

I hope all this helps
Mike Daly mike_daly@RemoveTHISmsn.com

Hermosa Beach Wave live Cam volleyball courts. http://www.hermosawave.net/wave/livecam.html

Good Stuffs Strand Cam Hermosa Beach, CA http://eatgoodstuff.com/strandcam/index.html

Manhattan Beach Web Cam http://www.surfviews.com/

Scotland v England from the Kelvin Hall (29 Dec 01), Thursday 7th Feb 2002, 1730 Sky Sports 3 (main broadcast)

(Repeats)
1900 SSExtra
2300 SS2

Friday 8th
1300 SS2

Saturday 9th
1430 SS3

The viewing figures for the Cup Final and International programmes were excellent. International average figure 55,000 Cup Finals 60,000 

Channel usually record about 150,000 for their Saturday morning minority sports slots.

2001 has been an incredible year for the Association. Major advances have been made and the trend looks set to continue over the next few years.......  On the coaching side of things we ran more courses and qualified more coaches than at any time in our history. In the last 16 months we have increased the number of Volleyball coaches on the NCTC database from 34 to 230 - an increase of almost 700%!

Our membership figures taken from the number of affiliations has more than doubled from 13,626 to 26,902.

There has been a major increase in particular in our female membership growing from 8,684 to 19,814.

Our schools registration is up 75% with 30 new schools since September.

This sort of growth cannot be nurtured by one Coaching and Development person alone so lots of help is needed in all areas to lend a hand. 

The Year to Be
Projects planned for 2002 include a partnership with Cork Corporation to help spread the game in Post Primary and Primary schools in Cork City. 
In the last 2 weeks we have identified 8 different Volleyball groups in Cork. Having met with 6 of them so far it seems it won’t be too long until Volleyball is a significant sport in that area.

Work also has already begun in Donegal where Partnerships are forming with Youth Sport Fail and Donegal Youth Service to rekindle the sport which once was very popular in the North West. 

Paul McKeever.

A recent survey shows that over 100,000 children play volleyball at post-primary school level but only a small fraction of these play in organised competitions. Over 300 schools have asked the Volleyball Association Of Ireland for help in developing volleyball. If the demand form these schools can be met, the potential advantages to both schools and clubs will be enormous.

However, a whole process of Tutor, Coach and Teacher Training has to take place if we are to meet our ambitious development targets. OUR VISION is to have a MAJOR INCREASE IN PARTICIPATION at all levels in our sport. Our plan, detailing the action required, both inside and outside the sport, will soon be launched. We are inviting you to play a part in the plan to bring Volleyball, a major world sport, to a place of prominence and importance on the Irish Sports scene.

volleyball@clubi.ie

The most popular volleyballnewsletter.com web page, is our list of volleyball web sites. As well as providing you with a complete list of all the UK and Ireland Volleyball web sites, 188 sites. We have recently updated the list of UK volleyball service providers, it now includes four volleyball equipment providers plus on-line books / computer games stores / photo and volleyball coaching services etc. 

If you provide a volleyball service that is not listed via e-mail or a web site, them please let us know. Our listing service is free but if you wish to advertise on the page (banner etc), them please check out our section on advertising in / on the volleyballnewsletter.com web site.

6,000 ad views per month = (4,400 mailing per month + 1,600 web site hits per month).

Dave.Reece@volleyballnewsletter.com 

FIVB Press Department press@fivb.org

If a team showed up at USA Nationals and their shirts or shorts didn't exactly match, what would the officials do then? Would the spectators notice the above?

Michael Borga jsvba.com

I've had this happen at Junior Nationals a couple of years ago. Girl had her name on the back of her shirt. No one else did. Took her to the championship desk. They took a magic marker and blacked out her name. Surprised she didn't get high as the fumes from the marker were REAL strong. Point of the exercise was to let her play, within the rules. Maybe I was being too picky, but better to be safe than sorry, and have a coach
challenge her uniform half way through the match.

Tom Simchak tgslawref@ev1.net

Something like that did happen at Adult Nationals. If you can believe this. It was the 3rd or 4th day at Nationals in San Jose and it wasn't a problem during the first 3 days of competition. There was a Women's B or BB team playing with tank tops or something which made visible their sports bras. Their player had different color sports bras. They were told they could not play unless they were the same color and the ref really did not agree to start the match.

teron uy nodinx@hotmail.com

As I recall, this happened at the USA Open Nationals in Holyoke, Mass several years ago on an Air Force Base. According to the older officials,
the championship desk to them they had to all be alike or remove them. They went on further to say that the team removed their jerseys to take off their sports bras at the court. Of course this is second hand information. I guess I would have to consider the source from where it came. But since
more than one referee has told me this story, makes you wonder.....

Jacob Gillette razorsedge@no.att.spam.net

[A few weeks ago, Officials Forum #39 was issued on rsv for everyone to vote on, here is the follow up detailing the results.]

All previous Forum issues are published at http://www.usavolleyball.org/officiat/forum.htm Remember that these answers are by popular vote of individuals with varying degrees of refereeing experience. I add my own editorial comment, which represents my views only. Hey, I do the work so I can have some fun. You can ignore these comments since they do not reflect the position of USA Volleyball or consider them remembering the source.

This issue concerns what you do when you are not sure what to do. You should answer what you do in practice, not what you feel the exact wording of the rules say.

Part I. There are often situations when the setter is attempting to get to a ball and uses a fist or a single hand to play a second ball. The ball is close to the net and has not broken the plane of the net. The blocker reaches over and blocks the ball. The ball travels 4 inches before it is blocked. You cannot determine if the setter was attempting to play the ball over the net or to set the ball to a teammate. In these questions, you could not determine the flight of the ball.

1. The setter is front row and the ball is above the plane of the net-a:13,b:60;c:1
2. The setter is front row and the ball is below the plane of the net.-a:7;b:66;c:1
3. The setter is back row and the ball is below the plane of the net.-a:7;b:66;c:1
4. The setter is back row and the ball is above the plane of the net.-a:4;b:60:c:10

The bulk of the panel gives the benefit of the doubt to the setter, and does not consider the legality of a potential attack (ie distinguish between front row and back row when the ball is above the plane of the net). They feel that the attack is not completed by the offense. Therefore, the blockers cannot block a ball that hasn't entered the plane of the net. A surprising number disagreed on #4, changing a blocking over to an illegal BRA. I would not be happy with that call unless I was the blocker (with a smile). In my experience, those trained using FIVB rules get this call correctly almost all the time. That's because the setter cannot penetrate the opponent's space to save an overpass. Thus, it is illegal for the setter to save a ball that has broken the plane of the net. In that environment, there is a large emphasis in determining whether or not the ball has broken the plane of the net. Those trained under USA or NAGWS rules (NCAA next year) tend to follow the path of the ball and are not prepared to make an accurate call on blocking over(they do not leave the ball and focus on the net). This call is missed alot in my experience, since good blockers generally do not wait for the ball to break the plane in the USA. Note that there were no differences cited for USA vs NAGWS rules.

Answer these for both NAGWS and USA/FIVB rules if you believe that your call would differ. Alternatively, just answer for one and indicate which rule set that you are using.

Choose among the following

A. Play continues. The block is legal if the player was taking the ball over and I cannot determine what s/he was doing.
B. Blocking over
C. Back row attack
D. Play continues if the setter was attempting to set an attacker.

Questions 5-8 are identical to 1-4, except now you have decided that the ball would have gone over had it not been blocked (the flight of the ball was toward the opponent's court after it left the setter's hand).

5.a:68;b:4;c:1;d:1
6.a:65;b:8;d:1
7.a:65;b:8;d:1
8.a:3;b:5;c:63
8.NAGWS a:7;b:2;c:17;d:11

The panel obviously takes the flight of the ball into account in determining the difference between blocking over and blocking an attacked ball. If there is no player between the setter and the net, or essentially right next to the setter, there is no longer a possibilty that a teammate of the setter could contact the ball before it goes over. In each case where the attack is legal, the overwhelming choice is to play-on. When the attack would be illegal (BRA in #8) the panel is consistent and changes to BRA(c). The only difference occurs when people answer under NAGWS rules - indicating the problem that these rules cause for referees. Under these rules, answer "D" cannot be correct, although many people interpret it this way. The block is illegal until the plane of the net is broken. The blocker cannot block a ball that has not reached the plane of the net unless the offense has finished their attack. It is not finished if someone could have played the set on a third hit. People are getting mixed up with a ball that has penetrated the plane. If there is some possibility of a third contact, 5 through 8 should be blocking over under all rule sets. If the ball had broken the plane of the net, then "D" could be right under NAGWS rules only. However, in my opinion this is only a good call if there is a reasonable possibility that a teammate could have played the ball if it had not been blocked.

Part II.

9. The ball is driven off the tape (or blocker) and out of bounds. Your R2 does not signal a touch or that the next contact would have been 4-hits. It's your call alone, although you know that the R2 did not see that the ball clearly hit the net below the block. She probably is as uncertain as you are. You have no idea whether there was a touch or not.

A. The attacking team gets the ball. Almost all the time, there is a touch in this situation. 13
B. The blocking team gets the ball. I did not see a touch, therefore I cannot call one. 59
C. I look to see which team is celebrating (almost always the offense). If neither is convincing, I select A. 2
D. I look to see which team is celebrating (almost always the offense). If neither is convincing, I select B. 1

A big vote for the "I didn't see it, therefore it was not there." I liked the comment by one Italian referee, "B is correct by the book. A is correct by experience." I have watched a huge number of high level men's matches where the speed of the ball makes it impossible to distinguish the ball that hits half on the net cord and not off the block from the ball that hits the net cord and the block - if one only used sight. The eye is not that good. I have almost never seen this ball given to the blockers (B) unless it was obvious that the ball did not touch the blockers (a rare call). Count me in the minority (A) in practice and with the majority (B) on a written exam on the rules. Some people commented that they would look to the line judge, or call the R2 over for a conference before selecting B (they did select B for this forum). Referees are forbidden from checking with line judges in this situation and line judges are forbidden from making the call. This is also NOT a situation for a conference. A good pair should already have a signaling sequence in place to handle this communication and the R1 should be using this if s/he is uncertain. There is no need for a conference unless you are working with an inexperienced (not certified) R2.

10. There is a pancake in the middle of the floor. It was in the open, but you still are unsure whether or not the ball hit the floor. You check for signals from your crew and there are none.

A. If I do not definitely see the ball hit the floor, play continues. 73
B. I can usually tell from the reaction of the coaches. I wait a small time and then stop play if it looks like the ball was down. 1
C. The ball is down. It's too embarrassing if the coaching staffs and fans saw that it hit the floor. 1

11. Ball is hit down the sideline on your side. It is so quick that you have a difficult time turning quickly enough to get a good view. You immediately look at the line judge, who has her arms in an "X". (I know that you have tried to stop Lea from line judging......)

A. I make the call depending on what I believe happened although I am quite unsure about the quality of this decision. I sell the call well. 31
B. I give a replay. 42
C. I call the ball in. I sell the call well. 1
D. I call the ball out. I sell the call well.

This is the only question (other than NAGWS) where I would say that there is large disagreement. Under the rules, there is no room given for "I didn't see it." In the words of one international referee, "If you didn't see it, get out of the business of refereeing." In the USA, we teach that there are certain times that a replay is given and this is not one of those times. The majority who voted for a replay cited "fairness." Politicians use that term. In general, referees, like line judges, are reluctant to make tough decisions. The easy ones could be made by the teams. That's why we tend to discourage replays on line calls - we do not want referees shying away from the tough calls. B is a reasonable answer only if you hardly ever use it. I imagine that most people who voted for B objected that they never have a difficult time getting a view. That's fine. I imagine that a reflection on their career would indicate that they cannot remember actually using a replay on a line call. Forget the "young international referee example" that seems to have become referee legend.

Wally Hendricks wally-h@ilir.uiuc.edu
Vice President for the Officials Division, USA Volleyball

American volleyball player Prikeba Phipps was suspended Friday by the Italian Volleyball Federation after testing positive for marijuana. Her Bergamo teammate and Italy's captain, Maurizia Cacciatori, also tested positive for banned substances in a second analysis.

Both players were tested after the Oct. 20-21 Supercopa Italiana in Vicenza. The Italian Olympic Committee said Phipps tested positive for Carboxy-Thc, the active ingredient in marijuana. Cacciatori tested positive for two diuretics she said she took as medications for a longtime health condition.

Victor E. Lindal viclindal@shaw.ca

At the last World league competition there were still 21 % of the players who made more than 35 % service errors. At the more recent Grand Champions Cup this percentage amounted only 8%. This might be a clear sign that something is changing. The taking of all risk with the net rule appears to make place for a more reasonable approach, which may take into account other aims than direct scoring.

The average score rate for men on top level is about 0.4. The average amount of points scored on 10 services hence will be 4 and some rotations
will reach even higher score rates. If those higher score rates are further more due to efficient blocking than it is less likely that risky serving is the best solution. A faulty service in rally scoring is a lost point but side outs points are levelled for the two reams. A lost service in stead still more means the lost chance in scoring 0.4 service points. If one analyses the effect of a lost service in rally scoring and side out scoring than it comes out that the relative effort which has to be made to level out the error is greater in rally scoren than for side out scoring as indicated in next table.

errors 0 2 4 6
side-out 0.4 0.423 0.448 0.476
rally 0.4 0.435 0.476 0.526

The table indicates the required score rate which has to me made in the two scoring systems to compensate for service errors. Ace over ace plus error ratios are a good indication for service efficacy. There is generally only a fraction of players who reach an ace ratio which is higher than the average score rate of 0.4.There appears therefore to be sufficient scope for players with lower ratios in particular if their rotation might have a higher than average score rate to switch over to a more safe but tactical service.

The rally scoring will push the game to more rational approach. The shorter time length and reduced points make the effect of errors in a similar way as indicated above for the service more difficult to compensate. The use of the libero not only as a pass specialist for the service but also as a
primary specialist in field defence is another example of a more rational approach. It is to be expected that this will also influence the attack structures with less application of interesting attack variations.


Defence

The number of field defence actions (digs) at the World Grand Cup Competition amounted to 16.3 per team per set. There is some logic that the
defence action be slightly higher for teams with a weaker net defence as can be seen from following table. It is reminded that Cuba finished first with
Brazil second and Yugoslavia third. Those countries showed clearly stronger blocking.

Team tot/set
ARG 18.00
JPN 17.33
CUB 16.33
KOR 16.29
BRA 15.11
YUG 14.44
Tot 16.30


The average quality of the defence actions amounts 57.86 % judged as excellent and 29.43 % as error. The figures are slightly different for the various teams and when a ranking is worked out for successful actions than the results is found to be different with Japan as most efficient defender.

Team Suc/s %exc %err

JPN 10.33 59.62 28.85
KOR 9.88 60.65 27.08
ARG 9.58 53.22 30.12
CUB 9.39 57.48 30.61
BRA 8.94 59.19 33.09
YUG 8.38 58.01 25.54
Tot 9.43 57.87 29.34

Those figures could be a kind of reference for digging but contrary to the NCAA the FIVB has given no clear definition for digs and it is found that
the total number of digs exceeds by far the neutral number of attacks which leaves as understanding that the FIVB applies a much wider definition for valid digs. The purpose of this contribution is not so far to present above figures but to underline the importance of the liberos.

The libero in each team without exception is the most active defender and in many cases also the most efficient defender. The liberos take part in the defence for about 23 % on average, and the average contribution of the liberos as a group amount to 2.2 successful actions per set against only
0.72 for the average player

class tot s/set %suc %err
lib 410 2.28 59.02 31.22
rest 1318 0.70 57.51 28.76
tot 1728 0.84 57.87 29.34

The performance of the 10 best defenders is presented in the following table.

Rk. No. Team Tot. Suc/s Name
1 L JPN 74 2.78 Tsumagari Katsutoshi
2 L ARG 73 2.47 Meana Pablo
3 L KOR 68 2.47 Yeo Oh-Hyun
4 12 KOR 55 2.35 Suk Jin-Wook
5 L BRA 73 2.22 Nogueira Sergio
6 L CUB 64 2 .00 Romero M. Yasser
7 9 YUG 48 1.88 Grbic Nikola
9 7 CUB 60 1.83 Dennis D. Angel
8 5 JPN 50 1.83 Kai Hiroyuki
10 L YUG 58 1.69 Mijic Vasa

The liberos are indicated in the column No by L. It is shown hence that all liberos are classified under the 10 best defenders. For most teams with
exception of Yugoslavia the liberos is also the best defender of the team. The second best defender for Korea Cuba and Japan show also good
performance.

In previous contribution it had been shown that the liberos contribute very efficiently to service receiving, with the libero often-best passer of the teams. With present contribution it has to be concluded that in top volleyball now the role of the libero has gone to a real defensive specialist who plays primary role in both service defence and digging. 

leovh leovh@wanadoo.fr

Interesting figures. It does suggest rally point scoring is changing the game. At our club we are experimenting in how we can improve points won on
serve and block play, so we want our servers to serve safe but tactically when we have our best block up front, and to serve aggressively when we have a shorter/weaker block.

This might involve giving players different hitting/blocking duties depending on whether we are serving or receiving. As the stats suggest winning points on serve is tough but more important than it used to be, so we will line up to maximise our serve-and-block defensive play. For example
on serve we want our strongest block against the opposition's strongest hitter so we will arrange our front court to achieve this even if it "weakens" our in-play attack (in fact it just changes how we attack). For instance if your middle player is the best blocker line them up against their best hitter, even if this puts them at 2 rather than 3 and the opposite player at 3.

When we receive we will move the front line hitters around to give us the strongest attacking line up from serve receive. Serve receive is characterised by a "good pass". Where as serve-and-block defence is characterised by "get the ball up". You need/use different attacks for these
two types of play so having players in different attacking positions depending on whether you serve or receive may be applicable.

Saul Dobney saul.dobney@dobney.com

If I remember correctly, USAV states that no hats can be worn during play. But I don't recall anything about headbands being mentioned. So is it legal in USAV to wear a headband during play?

Chris CM_Olson@hotmail.com

Correct-headbands aren't mentioned as illegal. A headband worn as such is legal, though quite uncommon for indoor play. A bandana worn to cover most of the head (dew rag, do rag, what have you), however, is interpreted as a hat, according to a rules interp I attended many years ago.

Todd Haverkos tdh@vbref.org

At nationals this past year, a guy on a B team went down because he got elbowed on the top of his head and it split open and bled. After getting
stitches at the hospital, he returned to play and wore a bandana over his head to cover the stitches. I guess this was a special case?

Martha Walz martha@walz-tech.com

To learn more about European events, we have decided to adopt a team, Asterix Kieldrecht from Belgium and follow their progress in this years Women's "Top Team" competition. They are the current holders of the event and are looking to successfully defend it this year.

Asterix Kieldrecht Volleyball club

Yesterday we played our third European Cup game, at home against the Polish team of Bydgosczc. A very young and motivated team. Asterix was quite nervous, we did not have any service pressure, and failed to finish when we were ahead (in sets one and two, we had each time to set-balls, but lost 24-26 and 26-28). 

A lot of suspense for the 500+ spectators, but also in the third set we gave up a 7 point lead, and lost 20-25 and 0-3. Our chances for qualifying for the quarter finals have become quite slim.

We have three more games to go in January, and in fact there is nothing to loose anymore, so we can play relaxed and hope for a miracle to happen !

Pictures of the last two games are being developed, I should get them next week.

Merry Christmas & a happy new year.
Jan Bens Jan.Bens@electrabel.com 

Current Pool 1 Standings

1 POL - Bank Pocztowy BYDGOSZCZ 3 3 0  
2 UKR - Dynamo-Jenestra ODESA 3 2 1  
3 BEL - Asterix KIELDRECHT 3 1 2  
4 SVK - Slavia UK DGT BRATISLAVA 3 0 3  

Asterix Fan Club

Dave, I thought you might find the attached picture mildly amusing. 

The original image was the front cover of a Belgian magazine celebrating the success of the Keildrecht Asterix Women’s Volleyball when they won the European cup last year. The somewhat less attractive InterMilager team (Leicester Volleyball Club tour team) saw a golden opportunity to improve our player profiles.  The joys of Adobe PhotoShop enabled us to get much closer to the delightful ladies than we would in reality.  The squad is (from left to right) Tim ‘Big Nose’ Shaw, Andy ‘Goldilocks’ Collins, Gary ‘Come to Bed Eyes’ Peryer, Gordon ‘Tickle My Beard’ Macdonald, Rob ‘Precious’ Manger, and myself Stuart ‘I’m at my Winter Weight’ Aldridge.

The original Menzo cover photo...

The girls work incredibly hard over their tournament weekend, and I’m sure our homage will make it all worthwhile!!! Kind regards Stuart Aldridge StuartA@compass-software.co.uk

Info from http://go.to/kieldrecht / www.cev.lu/ and Jan Bens Jan.Bens@electrabel.com 

Tours VB sweeps out Luzhniki Moscow by 3-0 and takes lead of pool D of European Champions League with now a very good chance to qualify for 1/4th finals.

Paris Volley have their very last (and small) chance to qualify today at Ekaterinenburg (RUS). 3-0 victory mandatory. They have worked hard during the Christmas holidays and had good results (winning the St-Niklaas tournament in Belgium by beating Cuba National team infinal).

RC Cannes played yesterday in Slovenia (Maribor) for the Women Champions League, but slovenian TV had no images and thus I don't have the result (very probably 3-0).

Christian Perrier bubulle@mykerinos.kheops.frmug.org

Some of the more interesting volleyball rules from the FIVB Casebook. Did you know that......

4.31 In a match between the women of the USA and China, the Chinese served the ball. The American receiver, Tee Williams jumped from behind the attack line and contacted the served ball from completely above the height of the net. The contact took place behind the attack line and the ball was returned to the serving team's side of the net. Was the first referee correct in allowing this play to continue?

Legal action. Although it is illegal to block served balls, or to attack most served balls from a height greater than the top of the net, the attack by Williams was legal since the contact point of the hit was completely behind the attack line. Rule 14.3.4

4.33 In the Women's NORCECA Olympic Qualifying Tournament, Sawatzke, the Canadian setter who was a back row player, penetrated into the front zone for a jump set. Soucy passed the ball from serve reception so that it came down near the net. The ball was too high for Sawatzke to reach and the ball crossed the plane of the net. It was then hit by the Dominican Republic's middle hitter back across the net against the raised arm of Sawatzke who was still above the height of the net. The ball then rebounded across the net into the Dominican's court. Was the referee correct
when he called Sawatzke for the illegal block?

Yes, the block was an illegal block by the back line player Sawatzke. Even though she had not intentionally attempted to block, Sawatzke's contact of the ball higher than the top of the net and near the point of the ball crossing the net made her a blocker. Rule 15.1.1, 15.1.3, 15.6.2

4.34 In a match between the women's teams of Korea and Germany, a player from Germany reached over the net to block the second hit of the Korean setter. The first referee did not blow his whistle. Is it legal for the blocker to reach over (beyond) the net to block an opponent's setter?

It is absolutely necessary for the first referee to determine the action of the setter. He must know whether the set was made parallel to the net or whether the set was going toward the net, thus, making it an attack hit. In the first case, the blocker would be at fault because the ball was not "coming from the opponent". In the second case, the set was "coming from the opponent" and should be considered to be an attack hit. 

According to Rule 15.3, it is not a fault to block an attack hit beyond the net. It is important for the referee to be able to differentiate between a "set" and an attack using an overhand pass. Rule 15.1.1, 15.3

More examples in the next issue....

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