Boys volleyball is winning most of their games this season, scoring 12 wins and two losses. Played in sets, best out of five. In a set, players will compete to get to 25 points with a two-point advantage. During North Harford’s senior game, the score was 2-2 with the final set going to Harford Tech with a final score of 14-16 in the set.
There are about six positions played in volleyball depending on a player’s skill set. These positions include setter, outside hitter (left side hitters), opposite hitter (right side hitter), middle blocker, libero, and defensive blocker.
Setters and outside hitters are the most popular positions to play in boy’s volleyball; Coach Jason Shelby says that he played as an outside hitter when he played for North Harford in 1990. Setters, according to hoovermetcomplex.com, are the main contributors to the offensive line, setting the ball perfectly for one of the attacking players to hit and score onto the other team’s side. This website also mentions that communication is extremely important because they need to get the rest of the players on the same page. Without the setter, there wouldn’t be hard spikes or technical ball movement. Outside hitters are the lead attackers in the offensive line. Junior Jonathan Bowen has played volleyball for three years and is an outside hitter. They must be able to jump high, be quick on their feet, and be ready to adapt.
Opposite hitters are players of both offense and defense. They also get many opportunities to hit the volleyball. However, the main difference is that the defensive responsibility is greater. An example of this is being able to receive the service from the opposing team. Senior captain Jacob Jestel has played volleyball for four years and plays outside, right side, setter, and libero.
Middle blockers are normally the tallest players on the team, according to hoovermetcomplex.com. These players main role is being the first line of defense against the opposing team’s hits. The middle blocker needs to read the other team’s attackers to quickly start blocking the attempt. However, this is not a defense-only position; players have to be able to attack the other team if needed or if an opportunity arrives.
Liberos normally play on the back row of the court, and because of this, are the ones to receive a hit from the opposite team. There are set rules the liberos need to follow. Some include no blocking and no attacking. The main goal of the libero is controlling the ball after a play or a hit from the opposite side. Libero wears a different colored jersey, so you can tell them apart from the rest of the team.
Overall, Jestel says, “The hardest part of the game is communicating with your team,” while Bowen says that it is “timing because timing is so important in volleyball.” Finally, Shelby says his favorite thing about the team is the fact that they “They live and die for each other.”
Shelby says if the team “grows another six inches, right across right across the b-board,” the team would improve past their current skill level. “If we had six inches and could hit everything that the outside hitters hit, then it would be a different story.”
