Most common techniques to play the ball are: spiking, digging, blocking, passing and setting

Volleyball was invented in the USA in 1985. It was designed to be less rough than football or basketball but allow for great athletics effort

To serve, a player stands behind the inline and strikes the ball over the net using either: underhand, overhand or jump serve techniques

Two teams of 6 players are separated by a net – each team may touch the ball three times before getting it over the net and aim to ground the ball on the opposition’s court

A volleyball court is 18m long and 9m wide – each team plays in a 9x9m square. There is a marked 3 meters line, which divides up the ‘front row’ and ‘back row’ of players

In 1998 the ‘libero’ player was introduced internationally. The libero is a specialised defensive player and must wear a contrasting jersey colour from his/her team mates and can replace a back-row player without prior notice to the officials

Volleyballs are made of leather or synthetic leather, have a circumference of 65-67 cm and weight of 260-280g

Players may travel well outside the court to play a ball that has gone over a sideline or end-line in the air

Volleyball was included in the program for the 1964 Olympics

After a team gains the serve, its members must rotate in a clockwise direction