Volleyball

Ace

A serve which lands in the opponent's court without being touched, or is touched but unable to be kept in play.

Forearm pass

A play using the underside of the forearms connected at the wrists to pass the ball.

Dig

A play where a player passes the ball which has been attacked by the opposition, keeping it in play.

Floater

A serve that does not spin, moving in unpredictable ways, making it difficult to pass.

Jump Serve

A type of serve in volleyball where the player increases power and height by jumping.

Rally Score

A scoring system in volleyball in which a point is scored on every rally, regardless of who serves.

Dink

A shot where the ball drops just over the net by legally pushing it around, through or over blockers.

Attack

The offensive act of hitting the volleyball.

Attack Line

Also called the 10-foot line; it divides front row players from back row players.

Kill

A successful, legal point-scoring play from a spike attack.

Block

Player(s) blocks the ball into the opponent's court, leading to a point or side out.

Topspin Serve

A type of serve that spins rapidly forward from the top.

Mintonette

The origin of volleyball created by William G. Morgan in 1895 as a pastime game.

Set

Pushing the ball high with fingers to deliver it to an attacker.

Side-out

When the receiving team earns the right to serve.

Spike

An attack strategy used to hit the ball over the net to the opposing team.

Pancake

A technique where a player puts a hand on the ground to catch the ball.

Double hit

Occurs when a player touches the ball with more than one body part while trying to hit it.

Campfire

Describes when a ball falls in between players without any of them going after it.

Roof

When the defensive player blocks a ball so hard that it immediately returns to the hitter.

Joust

When two blockers from opposing teams reach for a ball on the net simultaneously.

Wipe

When a hitter hits the ball into a defender's hands intending for it to go out of bounds.