The Sequencing of Game Complexes in Women’s Volleyball

Abstract

In volleyball, each team must use no more than three hits to return the ball to the opponent’s court. This unique aspect of volleyball means that playing actions can be grouped into different complexes, mainly based on the initial defensive action. The purpose of this study was to find out which game complexes are most common in women’s volleyball and how those phases are sequenced. The study analyzed 4,252 complexes from 1,176 rallies or points (seven matches, with 27 sets in total) in the 2015 and 2016 Copa de la Reina. The variables analyzed were the game complex, complex efficacy, and number of complexes per point. Two Markov chains were defined to visualize how the complexes are sequenced. The first chain looked only at categories of the game complex variable, taking seven states and 24 transitions into consideration. The second chain combined the game complex and complex efficacy variables, taking 26 states and 125 transitions into consideration. These chains provide practical information regarding which sequences of complexes occur most frequently in the competition analyzed, and therefore which ones should be the main focus in training sessions. The most frequent sequence was Complex 0 (the serve), followed by Complex I with in-system attack, followed by Complex II without continuity.