In volleyball, a kill is scoring a point while the other team was not able to control the ball.
There are 3 main situations where this happens:
1/ The ball hits the ground without hitting a defender
2/ The ball hits a defender but this player is not able to control the ball
3/ The defender makes a net fault while trying to stop the ball
If you can score a lot of kills in a short row, it is easy to win a set. Players often target an area on the court that is not well defended. This can allow them to score kills. The other team might ask for a timeout to see how they can respond and defend better.
Why kills are important
After you attack (or spike), the other team can often return the ball. If you find a weak point in the defense of the other team, it is sometimes possible to score a lot of points in a row. This can especially happen at the end of the game as players get tired. Players might not be able to run as much as they are used to or their ball controlling skills have deteriorated because they used all their energy.
This is why it is important to manage your energy during a volleyball match. A lot of teams start strong but are not able to keep up the pace for the whole match. This can allow the other team to come back; If they score some kills in a row, it can change the score fast. It can also demotivate a team as they can start to argue amongst each other. This is why coaches often ask for a timeout or substitute players when they see that the other team is scoring a lot of kills in a row.
When can you expect to be awarded a kill?
If a player scores a lot of kills, it can indicate that they are very good at attacking. This is why professional players spend a lot of time perfecting their attack so that they can win a ‘clean point’ as the defense is not able to touch the ball. Teams don’t get extra points for this but it can speed up the game.
Being able to control the rhythm of the match can help you to win it. This is why teams want to score points in rapid succession. If you have long rallies, it can take a lot of energy. On the other hand, if you can score some kills, your team has to use less energy.
The referee signals when a kill is scored so that everyone knows that the player was able to score in this way.
We see this in other sports as well. For example, in tennis, an ace is when the other player is not able to touch the ball after a serve.
This is all recorded on the match sheet. Players and coaches spend a lot of time studying their statistics as it allows them to improve their game. Generally, the ratio of kills/total attacks is looked at. Sometimes the attackers don’t receive a lot of good passes. This can result in fewer kills per match. Given that volleyball is a team sport, it is not always the fault of the attacker that they are not able to score a lot of kills. This is why we look at the ratio. If they don’t have a lot of attacks but some kills, it can indicate that the attacker did well but the other players of the team didn’t pass well.
The libero or defensive specialist has to make sure that the other team can’t score a kill. This is generally done by digging (or diving) to keep the ball in the air. Libero’s spend a lot of time improving their diggs. It is possible that they have a bad day and that their diggs don’t work that well. The trainer can always substitute the libero if they notice that the libero is not performing well. This is an important role and it is difficult to win a match if the libero is not performing well.
The libero has to catch the ball and pass it to other players on the team. The goal is to control the ball so that it is possible to start the counterattack. This is the main role of the libero so it is essential that they are able to avoid kills.
How to score a kill in volleyball
You have to hit the ball with one arm. This means that you can’t score a kill with a block.
There are 2 main ways to score a kill in a volleyball match:
-The team works together and on the last pass, a player spikes. This lets the ball go over the net. If the other team is not able to react properly, they can score a kill.
-Serving: if a player can serve and make sure that the ball lands in a spot that is not well defended, he or she can score a kill as well. It can be really frustrating for the defenders if you score a lot of points in a row as they are rapidly losing the set.
The attacking team has to be creative and find new ways to attack. The problem is that a lot of teams use the same attack over and over again and this makes things too predictable for the defenders. This makes it harder to score a kill as they know what is coming.
To conclude, we can state that kills are important in a volleyball match. While you don’t get more points for it, it can speed up the match. A kill is an attack that is so good that the other team can’t control the ball well. Great attackers can often score several kills per match. This is recorded on the match sheet so players can track their performance over time.
If a team notices that they drop the ball too often, they might opt to pick another libero or to change the composition of the team. Trainers will present drills to improve the digging skills of players if they notice that the other teams can score a lot of kills against them.
