As seems to be true in competitive tennis (which I have never played), serving is an important part of competitive volleyball. The teams that serves better doesn’t always win the match, but it is certainly an advantage. It can be painful to watch “your team,” whoever that might be, miss a serve, or struggle to handle a powerful opposing server.
But aggressive serving is a double-edged sword. Aggressive serving produces aces, which are thrilling when your team serves them, but it also increases the probability of service errors, which are like a dagger in your heart when your team makes them.
I, for one, have often felt disappointed in the Gophers’ serving. The Gophers have not, it seems to me, been an aggressive serving team at any time during the McCutcheon era. Maybe that’s a matter of our personnel, but I suspect it’s a reflection of McCutcheon’s coaching philosophy; I’m guessing he doesn’t favor the risk-reward trade-off that comes with aggressive serving. Sometimes I wish he were a little less conservative.
HOW GOOD IS THE GOPHERS’ SERVING?
Let’s look at the stats: Going into the final weekend of the Big Ten season, the Gophers 83 Aces in 57 sets, for an average of 1.46 aces/sets, tying them with Michigan for 5th best in the Big Ten. Let’s call that good, but not great.
But let’s look a little deeper. The Big Ten website does not provide Service Error data for all 14 teams, and I’m too lazy to look it up on 14 websites. But I did compare the Gophers to 3 other teams, unbeaten and league leading Wisconsin, Nebraska (virtually tied with the Gophers) and Illinois, who leads the Big Ten with 120 service aces and a 1.90 aces per set average.
- The Gophers 83 aces came with 68 service errors, for a ratio of 1.22 aces per error;
- The Illini crushed an impressive 120 aces, but this league-leading total came with 162 errors, for a ratio of 0.74 aces per error;
- The Badgers’ 62 aces (in many fewer sets than the Gophs) came with 95 errors, for a ratio of 0.74 aces per error; and
- The Huskers (who have an aces per set ratio almost identical to the Gophers) served 84 aces and 116 errors, for a ratio of 0.72 aces per error
I can’t say for certain based on my limited research, but the Gophers appear to be an outlier in aces to errors ratio. And when you look at it this way, the Gophers might be the best serving team in the Big Ten. And even if they are merely 2nd best, the Gophers “conservative” serving philosophy looks a lot better in this light.
MATCHING SERVICE AGGRESSION TO SERVICE RHYTHM
When I was coaching J.O. V-ball, I stressed the importance of matching service aggression to serving rhythm. The most difficult serve to make, and the worst one to miss, is your first serve. You’re cold, you have no rhythm, and missing your first serve is a killer; volleyball is a game of momentum, and missing your first serve hands the momentum to the opposing team. I have, on occasion, experienced a team I was coaching or playing on miss 3 first-serves in a row. Never, did we win that set! So putting the ball in play has to be a server’s priority on the first set.
Increased aggression is appropriate on a second serve; you’ve got a little rhythm, and momentum is neutral. And on the 3rd, 4th, and 5th set, I wanted my girls to crank that sucker with everything they had. By now you are in rhythm, a service error following 3 points does not transfer momentum, and you have a chance to capture the momentum.
I coached my girls to ease up a little on the 6th serve, and on a 7th or subsequent serves (the opposing team generally calls a time-out by now, but sometimes not), putting the ball in play once again becomes the priority. Sure, you got all the rhythm in the world, and you can probably serve an ace – but it isn’t worth the now-minimal risk of an error. You can serve underhanded to the opposing team’s best receiver, and she’ll probably shank it; that’s how powerful your momentum is.