Quicksets with Kenzie: Volleyball Vocab

"You've got to love what you do to really make things happen." --Philip Green

Understanding the game of volleyball is one of the hardest things one can do. Knowing the terms, though, helps people to comprehend the game. Here are some terms every volleyball player should know.

• Ace: A serve that results in a point, though there only be two touches on the other side to be a true ace.

• Assist: A player will set another player and consequently the hitter will get a kill. The assist goes to the setter.

• Attack Line: The ten-foot line.

• Back Row: The court area behind the attack line.

• Back Row Attack: An aggressive attack from behind the ten-foot line. The hitter can jump from behind the line and land in front of it, but cannot step on or over it before he or she jumps.

• Bump: A pass with your forearms.

• Cut Shot: An attack with a sharp angle trajectory. This is more commonly used on the beach.

• Dig: A defensive pass off a spike that results in a playable ball.

• Double Contact: The ball (usually off a setter's hands) comes off with spin on it. A ball with a clean contact will have no spin on it.

• Double Hit: A player contacts the ball twice in a row. However, this is legal indoor in one circumstance: if a blocker attempts to block a ball, he or she can then contact the ball again with two more contacts on their side of the court before the ball must be sent over. Beach volleyball does not permit this, and the blocker (off a touch) cannot play the ball a second time and the contact counts as the first contact.

• Down Ball: A ball sent over the net by an overhand swing without a jump.

• D.S.: Defensive specialist.

• Dump: The setter will send the ball over on the second contact.

• End-line: The service line.

• Float Serve: A type of serve that results in no spin on the ball.

• Foot Fault: Stepping on or over the service line before making contact with the ball in a serve.

• Free Ball: An easy ball coming over the net that usually results in a point for your team (hence the word "free").

• Front Row: The area in front of the ten-foot line.

• Joust: A simultaneous block by opposing players in which both try to force the ball to the other side of the net.

• Jump Float: A variation of the float serve and the jump serve.

• Jump serve: A type of serve in which the server tosses the ball into the air and then hits it with topspin, almost like a spike.

• Lift: Contacting the ball for too long.

• Over: Contacting the ball on the opponent's side of the net.

• Pancake: A dig with a flat hand on the floor, usually used as a last-ditch effort.

• Pepper: A drill involving two players hitting the ball back and forth in the pattern of pass, set, hit.

• Rally: A series of plays with the ball crossing the net.

• Roof: A block resulting in a point.

• Rotation: The order in which players must serve.

• Screening: One team blocks the passer's view of the server with their bodies.

• Seam: The area between two blockers or passers.

• Shag: To collect the balls and put them in a ball cart.

• Shank: A very bad pass usually resulting in a point for the other team.

• Side Out: The receiving team wins the point.

• Spike: An overhand attack.

• Sprawl: Performed after a dig when a normal dive and roll is not possible.

• Tip: A ball that is sent gently over the net by an attacker in an attempt to catch their opponents off-guard

• Tool: A ball that has been hit off the block and results in a point for the attacking team.

• Transition: In the middle of a play, when players tend to be mixed up running to their spots.

• Under: A fault in which a player goes under the net.

And who could forget some slang?

• Beast: A great player, male or female. ("Foluke Akinradewo is a beast hitter.")

• Butter: A perfect set. ("That set was butter!")

• Bagel: Beating an opponent where the opponent has 0 points. ("We bagelled that team in the fifth game 15-0!")

• Gator: A type of passing in which the passer makes puts their hands together like a gator's mouth. This term has been made popular by the hit spoof 'Danny Kinda.' ("Fear the gator!")

• Money: See 'butter.'

• Nectar: See 'butter.' This term has been made popular by the hit spoof 'Danny Kinda.' ("Feast on my nectar!")

• Nails: Great passing. ("Those passes were nails.")

• Six-pack: Hitting an opposing player in the face off a spike. Traditionally, the hitter would receive a six-pack of their favorite drink from the rest of the team for this feat. ("That dude got six-packed!")

• Up: Usually a great dig. ("Great up!")

• You're Easy: If a player gets a great dig, they might say "You're easy!" to the opposing hitter. However, be careful with this one as at a recent boys match at my high school, a DS said this to an opposing player, the player responded, and they both got yellow cards. ("You're easy!")

And remember, hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard.

Kenzie Aries