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USA Women’s National Team Captures FIVB World Cup of Volleyball

April 16, 2015May 21, 2015 horvath Leave a comment

On October 12, 2014 the USA Women’s National Team (WNT) did what no other American team has done before – they won the World Championships.

This post evaluates the percentage of points, sets, and matches won by the WNT and extrapolates lessons learned from the data.

The data shows:
• Overall – the USA WNT won 53.1% of the points, 75.0% of sets and 84.6% of matches in the 2014 World Championships.
• Early Rounds – In the first 8 matches the WNT won 55.2% of the points, 88.9 of the sets, and 100.0% of the matches.
• Late Rounds – In its last 5 matches the WNT won 49.7% of the points, 52.9% of the sets, and 60.0% of the matches. This was enough to win the World Championships.

The lessons learned are:
• Champions win slightly more than half the points.
• Every point matters when you are only winning 53.1% of the points. Really dominant teams will win a higher percentage – 55% to 56%.
• Champions play every point as if it is the most important point of the match.
• Champions don’t get blown out. They are in every match – because every point is important.
• Champions manage team and player mistakes when they happen.
• Pre-tournament coaching makes a difference. At the USAV High Performance Coaches Clinic, Coach Kiraly talked about how he asked several players to replace their heavy topspin serves with jump floaters to increase the percentage of points won on the serve. These players began working on this change a month prior to the World Championships.
• Tournament preparation and establishing strategies make a difference. Because the WNT dominated in early matches they were able to allocate playing time across all their hitters. This meant their top hitters were rested for the final matches and opponents had difficulty scouting them.
• Understanding match data is part of the planning process for championship teams.
• Clearly, the WNT won this championships because the players worked together as a team and understood their role on the team.

Good luck to the USA Women’s National Team as they defend their title this August in Japan.

Percentage of Points Won – Two Points Per Set

March 29, 2015November 13, 2016 horvath Leave a comment

Over the course of a season what is the percentage of points won, sets won, and matches won by a college volleyball team? More importantly, what is the value of two points per set?

The report Team Tendencies and the Importance of Winning a Point takes an in-depth look at those percentages for the University of Colorado Women’s Volleyball team for the nine-year period from 2006 to 2014.

The Lady Buffs won between 42.8% and 50.0% of the points. The range from low to high is 7.2 percentage points. In other words, there are subtle differences between being a winner and a loser.

In 2009 the Lady Buffs won 42.8% of the points.

At the other end of the spectrum they won 49.5% of the points in 2006 and they won 50.0% of the points in 2014. Both years they qualified for NCAA nationals and won their first match at the Big Dance.

The range of 7.2 percentage points for points won (50.0%-42.8%) is magnified to a range of 38.6 percentage points for sets won (53.1% – 14.5%). In turn there is a range of 55.5 percentage points (60.0% – 4.5%) for matches won.

During the 2009 season the Lady Buffs won:
• 42.8% of the points
• 16.7% of the sets
• 10.0% of the matches.
The Lady Buffs won two of twenty matches. As can be seen, when less than half of the points are won, there is an increased reduction in the percentage of sets and matches won.

During the 2014 season the Lady Buffs won:
• 50.0% of the points
• 50.0% of the sets
• 55.0% of the matches.
The Lady Buffs won eleven of twenty matches. As can be expected when half the points are won there is minimal magnification of sets and matches won.

During a conference season the Lady Buffs play 20 matches. This is about 3,000 points and 75 sets.

If the Lady Buffs win 50.0% of the points, as they did in 2014, they would win 1,500 points. If they win 44.5% of the points, as they did in 2009, they would win 1,335 points during the season.

The difference is 165 points.

If those points are spread evenly over 20 matches, the average difference is 8.25 points per match. If 165 points are spread over 80 sets that means the average difference is 2.1 points per set. If you look at it from that perspective the difference between being the worst in the conference and qualifying for the NCAA championships is about eight points per match or two points per set.

The Bottom Line: As a coach or a player how can you find a way to win at least two points per set?

Women’s Volleyball Team Tendencies

March 23, 2015May 19, 2015 horvath Leave a comment

The women’s volleyball scores for the University of Colorado were evaluated for the nine-year period 2006 to 2014. In addition, scores were included for select Nebraska and Stanford seasons. From this analysis points won, sets won, and matches won, the following team tendencies were developed.

The following definitions are used in the description of the different levels.
Blowouts – decided by 10 points or more.
Solid – decided by 5 to 9 points.
Competitive – decided by 3 or 4 points.
Close – decided by 2 points.

Tier I Teams
• Win more than 53% of the points.
• Don’t lose blowout sets and less than 10% of sets are solid losses. They don’t give opponents a chance to get into the match.
• Win a majority of the close and competitive sets.
• At least 35% of the sets are solid wins
• At least 10% of the sets are blowout wins.
• Win at least 80% of their matches and most wins are 3-0.

Tier II Teams
• Win between 50.1% and 53.0% of the points.
• May lose a few blowout and solid loss sets.
• Win a majority of close and competitive matches.
• About 30% of their sets are solid wins and 5% are blowouts.
• Win at least 66% of their matches and most wins are 3-0 or 3-1.

Tier III Teams
• Win 48.1% to 50% of the points.
• Less than 10% of sets lost are blowouts and 20% solid losses.
• Sometimes win a majority of the close and competitive matches.
• Win about 20% of the sets are solid wins
• May win a few blowout sets.
• Win about half their matches.

Tier IV Teams
• Win between 45.1% and 48% of the points.
• About 20% of their sets are blowouts and 25% are solid loses.
• Most losses are 3-0 or 3-1.
• Win about 35% of their sets and matches.

Tier V Teams
• Win less than 45.1% of their points.
• More than half their sets are solid losses or blowouts.
• A majority of their matches are lost 3-0.
• Win less than 30% of their matches.

The above hierarchy will allow coaches to identify where their team falls in the peaking order and provide them with coaching that will help them move up the pecking order.

For additional information, click here and go to the report Team Tendencies and the Importance of Winning a Point.