What is alignment? Why does everyone seem to be running around and switching court positions after the serve?
Alignment refers to a rule in volleyball that requires players to maintain specific court positions prior to the contact of serve. Once the serve has been contacted, rules of alignment no longer apply for the remainder of that point (live ball). With player position specialization, we want the best players in the best positions to play their specific positions. For example, we want the player with the best setting skills to play setter and we want the setter on the right side of the court near the net (in the “setter’s box”) taking the second contact as much as possible. (For the uber-curious: the setter’s box is on the right side of the court because it is a predominantly right-handed world and it is easier to hit a ball that is set from the right.) Another example is putting the best blocker who is often the tallest kid in the middle of the net where she can maximize her blocking performance along the width of the net. Due to alignment rules, players aren’t always able to start in th
