New program allows for volleyball stats
Sports editor
If you’ve been reading Marion High School volleyball stories for a while, you might notice a few more numbers in recent editions.
New stats like attack (or hitting) percentage, kills, digs, assists, and many more are now available to head coach Jim Versch through the use of a hand-held stats program.
The program, which is run by assistant coach LeAnn Hansford, has a touch screen that allows for up-to-the-second stats.
The stats help provide Versch with information on what his team is doing well and what it needs to do better. They also help with all-league honors, and possible scholarship offers.
What do they mean?
A kill is the most common stat in volleyball, and refers to anytime a player attacks the net and “spikes” the ball on the other side.
It is only a kill however if it lands inbounds (on the court or hits an opposing player) and is not returned.
Attack percentage is a little more confusing.
Anytime a player hits the ball over the net for an apparent kill, it is called an “attack.”
If a player hits the ball out of bounds, she is credited with an “attack error.”
If she hits the ball and it is returned, she is not awarded an error or kill, only an attack.
Attack percentage is then figured by number of kills, minus errors, divided by attacks.
For example, if Julia Zeiner records 10 kills and two errors on 22 attack attempts (8/22), she is given a .364 attack percentage.
A hitting percentage of .300 is considered good.
A dig is given when a defensive player saves an attack by the opposing team, just before hitting the floor.
A libero, or defensive specialist, usually records the most digs.
Even the most untrained fan can figure out what constitutes an assist or block.
An assist, which is usually earned by the setter, is when a player sets the ball up for a hitter to earn a kill. If the hit is successful, the player who set the ball will receive an assist.
Blocking is broken down into two categories: solo and assisted blocks.
Anytime a player jumps to the net to block an opposing kill, it is a block attempt. If the player blocks the ball and it lands inbounds on the opposing side, she is credited with a solo block.
Sometimes two players will jump at the same time, and block the ball together. If so, they will both be credited with an assisted block.
For full season stats, see page 7.