Setters

How do the hitters know what to run? Who decides? This would be the setter. The setter is one of the leaders on the court who is constantly communicating with everyone on the court. They decide what plays the hitters run and when. The setters are the ones who take the second ball almost every time and "set" it up for the hitters to hit. The only times that the setter doesn't take the second ball is when the setter takes the first ball in defense, and when it is out of system. When the setter digs the ball on defense, they are trained to dig it to the middle of the court and the libero or left back takes the second ball. They usually will set a nice, high ball to the outside. Most teams have the libero take the second ball out of system, but some do it differently, for example they  would have the right front take the second ball instead of the libero. The other way to be out of system is to have a pass not to target. Setters can get to a lot of our of system balls, but they will not have all three hitting options, or they might not be able to run the tempo that they would on a good pass. If the pass is far enough away and the setter can not get to it, then a different player, usually who ever is the closest to the ball, will take it. 

In system passes, however, are different. You can run all three options, or two options if the setter is front row, plus any back row attacks. A lot of coaches teach tempo, which is setting at a faster pace. Tempo is harder for the other team to defend, and can fake the other team out if the setter sets something else. A team can run combination plays, where the hitters run different tempo sets. These plays are run on 3 passes(perfect/great passes) and on serve receive. They can throw another team off, and open up spots for certain hitter to score. For example if the middle runs a slide, they might pull the other middle blocker with them, leaving the outside hitter with only one blocker to hit around. The setters are the ones who come up with the plays that the hitters run. There are many things they take into consideration when deciding which plays to run and who to set: the other team's defense(open spots), their blockers(if they cheat one way or are weak or strong), hot hitter, match ups, setter back or front row, what plays work well together, and when to run them. It is important to have a smart setter who knows how to look at the match ups, the other team, and makes smart setting decisions.