International book international book of favorite sports_FV | Page 86

fifth set, if necessary, is usually played to 15 points. (Scoring differs between
leagues, tournaments, and levels; high schools sometimes play best-of-three to
25; in the NCAA matches are played best-of-five to 25 as of the 2008 season.)
Volleyball is essentially a game of transition from one of the above skills to the
next, with choreographed team movement between plays on the ball. These
team movements are determined by the
teams chosen serve receive system,
offensive system, coverage system, and
defensive system. The serve receive
system is the formation used by the
receiving team to attempt to pass the ball
to the designated setter. Systems can
consist of 5 receivers, 4 receivers, 3
receivers, and in some cases 2 receivers.
The most popular formation at higher
levels is a 3 receiver formation consisting
of two left sides and a libero receiving
every rotation. This allows middles and
right sides to become more specialized at
hitting and blocking.
Offensive systems are the
formations used by the offense to
attempt to ground the ball into the
opposing court (or otherwise score
points). Formations often include
designated player positions with skill specialization (see Player specialization,
below). Popular formations include the 4-2, 6-2, and 5-1 systems (see
Formations, below). There are also several different attacking schemes teams
can use to keep the opposing defense off balance.
Young women on the court Coverage systems are the formations used
by the offense to protect their court in the case of a blocked attack. Executed by
the 5 offensive players not directly attacking the ball, players move to assigned
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