Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. It has been a part of the official program of the Summer Olympic Games since Tokyo 1964.

Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court. The receiving team must not let the ball be grounded within their court.

The team may touch the ball up to 3 times, but individual players may not touch the ball twice consecutively. The ball is usually played with the hands or arms, but players can strike or push (short contact) the ball with any part of the body.

Volleyball is one of the most popular playing sports in the world. Appearing at the end of the 19th century as a game for entertainment, it quickly began to develop as a sport. Dynamism, simplicity of equipment and equipment became the foundation of the popularity of volleyball. The rules of the game have evolved over time, but the basic principles have been preserved from the early years of its existence. At the same time, the path of volleyball to the Olympic program turned out to be quite long, and the democratic sport made its debut at the Olympics only in 1964 in Tokyo. However, many matches played since then are rightfully included in the golden fund of Olympic history.

Volleyball is one of the few Olympic sports whose history has preserved not only the exact year of birth, but also the name of the inventor. The history of volleyball has been counting down since 1895, when 25-year-old physical education teacher William Morgan hung a tennis net at a height of about two meters and invited his wards to throw a basketball over it. The place where this happened was the city of Holisk in the US state of Massachusetts. At first, the number of players in the teams, as well as the number of passes between them in their own half of the court, were not limited in any way, and even the game he invented, Morgan called not volleyball, but “mintonet”. Morgan's invention did not have much in common with the modern sport, but this episode is considered the official starting point in the history of volleyball.

Further development of the game was rapid. Already in 1897, it received its current name - volleyball, and the first official rules were formulated. The game began to gain popularity all over the world, but its rules were still quite far from the current ones. And the approach of volleyball as a sport to the modern form took place already in the second decade of the twentieth century. It was then that it was regulated that the number of players in one team should be exactly six, the grid height should be 243 centimeters, and victory in the game began to be awarded after one of the teams scored 15 points. And finally, in 1922 - exactly a century ago! - a rule was adopted that became the base for modern volleyball. The number of touches of the ball by the team in one attack was limited to three. In this way,

Before World War II, international volleyball competitions had no official status, and the first world championship was held in 1949 in Prague. In 1957, at the 53rd session of the International Olympic Committee, volleyball was officially recognized as an Olympic sport, and seven years later, its debut at the Games took place in Tokyo. The first Olympic champions were the national teams of the USSR among men and Japan among women.

At the moment, sets of Olympic medals in volleyball have already been played 15 times. In the men's competition, teams from 8 countries became champions: the USSR (and Russia) - 4 times, the USA and Brazil - 3 times each, Japan, Poland, the Netherlands, Yugoslavia and France - 1 each. In the women's tournament, volleyball players from only six countries won Olympic gold: the USSR - 4 times, China and Cuba - 3 each, Japan and Brazil - 2 each, USA - 1.

In the last decade of the twentieth century, a number of fundamental changes were made to the rules of volleyball. Since 1996, players have been allowed to touch the ball with any part of the body (including the foot), a year later, the teams received the right to have a player in a special defensive role - the libero. And since 1998, the game in each game, except for a tie-break, is played up to 25 points scored by one of the teams, and points are awarded in each draw (and not only when the ball is won on its own serve, as it was before). It was after this that the rules of volleyball finally acquired the form in which they exist now.

Set (game) - a part of a volleyball match that is played until one of the teams scores 25 points. When the score is 24:24, the game continues until the advantage of one of the teams by two points. A team needs to win three sets to win a match.    

Tie-break - a shortened game, which is assigned to determine the winner when the score is 2:2 in sets. The game is played until the moment when one of the teams scores 15 points. When the score is 14:14, the tie-break continues until the advantage of one of the teams by two points.

Submission - putting the ball into play by a player of one of the teams. It is performed from outside the site - from the zone behind the end line on its side.   

Line-up - the position of the players on the court at the time of the serve. The three players of each team who are in the front row are entitled to deliver attacking shots directly from the net. Players on the back line cannot block or attack by pushing closer than the 3m line.

Block - a technique in which the players of the defending team try to block the trajectory of the attacking strike with their hands. The block is the only element of the game in which the volleyball player has the right to move his hands to the opposite side of the court.

Touching the net - touching the net by a player of either team during a point. It is considered a violation of the rules and is punished by awarding a point to the opposing team.    

The binder is a key role in volleyball. A player who does not participate in the reception and, in most rallies, performs the second pass under the attacking hit. It is the setter that determines the attack options of the team and its direction.

The diagonal one is the most powerful and jumpy player on the team, who, as a rule, makes the largest number of attacking shots, including from the back line. In the arrangement during the execution of the serve, it is located diagonally from the setter.

The finisher is a second pace attacker who usually attacks from the edges of the net.

Central Blocker – A first rate attacker who usually strikes from the center of the net and is actively involved in the block when defending.

The Libero is a special defensive player who can replace any player on the court an unlimited number of times when he is on the back line. The Libero may neither serve nor perform any technical action by touching the ball at a point above the top of the net. 

The first tempo is an attack variant, in which the setter, with a short pass, takes a player located near the net in the central zone to a strike.

The second tempo is an attack variant, in which the setter with a long pass leads to a strike from the edge of the net of a diagonal player or a follower.

The pipe is an attack variant when the setter leads a player from the back line to an attacking hit, who pushes off to jump from behind the 3-meter line.

Out - landing the ball outside the court, or touching it with any object outside the playing area (ceiling, part of the stands, net posts, etc.) A point is awarded to the opponent of the team whose player last touched the ball before it went into touch.