Reading volleyball statistics
Volleyball statistics and box-score terms
How to read a volleyball match score, team and player statistics, attack efficiency, reception numbers and the common labels used in official FIVB data.
Match score, sets and the line score
Start with the match result: sets won decide the match, while the score of each set shows how those sets were won. A team’s total points across all sets are useful context but are not the same thing as sets won, so aggregate points alone do not determine the match winner.
Attack, block, serve and opponent errors
Official FIVB statistics separate the main scoring skills into attack, block and serve, and also track points caused by opponent errors. In the FIVB data model an attack attempt is classified as a point, a fault or an attack that lets the rally continue; equivalent point, fault and continuing-action fields exist for block and serve.
Player points and attack efficiency
FIVB player tables commonly split a scorer’s points into attacks, blocks and serves. Attack efficiency is not simply the percentage of attacks that score: the FIVB Technical and Data Report calculates it as attack kills minus attack errors minus blocked spikes, divided by total attack attempts.
Reception, attempts and percentages
Reception statistics can include total attempts, continuing receptions, positive or excellent receptions and reception faults, with percentages derived from those events. FIVB data also contains setting and digging measures, so always read the column label and its definition instead of assuming that every percentage means the same thing across different statistical views.