Indians take deep playbook to championships

When the Shelter Island volleyball players head to the state championships this weekend, they’ll have an arsenal of moves and techniques they’ll use to try to rise above the rest.

In a volleyball match, a hitter’s target is just a 30- by 30-foot patch of court, guarded by six defenders. Therefore, varsity Coach Cindy Belt explained, “you have to use deception and speed to get through the blockers and get the ball to the floor.” Their ability to pull off this deception and speed is part of what’s made the Indians so successful.

Each point they play starts with a serve. Most Indians do a standing serve, though a couple players have perfected the jump serve, which provides more power. Often a serve will be a topspin serve, a hard, fast hit that drops quickly.

But sometimes a player will try a float serve, which doesn’t spin and so it moves erratically as it travels through the air. Coach Belt compared it to a knuckleball pitch in baseball — it’s hard to know exactly where it’s going.

But before that serve even happens, the setter has to be sure the team’s ready. She calls the sets, much like a football quarterback calls plays. The Indians’ setter (Haley Willumsen) uses different hand signals to call sets, and might signal each hitter to run a different set.

In a typical set, the setter knocks the ball up into a high arc, well above the height of the net, so that a hitter can come in and knock it over.

But sometimes the team will run a shoot set, which rapidly sends the ball at a low angle from the setter’s hands in a line drive to an outside hitter. There’s also a quick set, when the setter knocks the ball just a short distance into the air and the middle hitter knocks it over before it goes into its high arc. In both instances, the hitters have to start their approach sooner to be at the ball at the right time. The speed of these plays can catch defenders off guard, who may not even have the chance to attempt a block.

A slide attack is a kind of fake-out. The setter faces to the right or the left and acts like she’s going to set the ball in front of her, but actually hits the ball into the air behind her. As the attacker approaches, she pretends to run toward the spot where the setter is facing but instead moves in back of her to knock the ball past defenders.

If you hear a girl call “off,” that means the planned play isn’t going correctly — maybe the timing just isn’t right or the ball was set too high. Either way, when the team hears “off” they abandon the set and it’s time for plan B: “they just kind of put it up there and whale away at it,” explained Coach Belt.

Perhaps the most entertaining moment for a spectator is to see a hitter slam the ball through blockers straight into the court. Though a hard spike is entertaining, sometimes an off-speed hit is more effective. It takes more finesse; it’s a softer, more controlled shot to an open spot on the court.

Remember, a shot doesn’t need to go directly to the floor to be called a kill or an ace. A kill is an unreturnable hit and an ace is an unreturnable serve — it can bounce off a defender and still count. You’ll know when a serve ended up as a notch in the “ace column” of the Indians score book when the ball hits the floor and the girls do their ace celebration, when they stomp one foot on the floor and then the other, followed by a clap, all in synch. It’s a show meant to frustrate their opponents.

An overpass is when a team accidentally hits the ball over the net while trying to pass to a teammate. Sometimes this is a set hit high in the air that just barely crosses into the opposing team’s airspace. This easy floater spells trouble for the team that committed the error, and you can bet the Indians will capitalize on the mistake: “If you’ve got a Kelsey McGayhey standing there, it’s all over, because she’s going to crush it down your throat,” explained Coach Belt. An overpass is a kind of free ball, which Coach Belt describes as a “lollipop” return that gives the opposing team the opportunity to make a great play.

Scoring points on serve is the only way to win, but if a team wants a victory they’ll have to play a strong defense. The first line of defense is the block, when the front row players stick their hands up to stop a hit. A block doesn’t count as a touch — if a player gets a piece of the ball on a block, that same person can pop the ball back into the air.

When the opposing offense spikes the ball at the floor, sometimes only a dig will keep it alive. That’s when a defender gets down low to pop the ball into the air and keep it playable. Often that means a dive onto the court to save the ball and keep a play going.

The team’s libero is a defensive specialist. For the Indians, that’s Dana Ramos. The libero can only play in the back row and can’t spike the ball above the height of the net. The position gets its name from the Italian word that means “free.” A team is only allowed a certain number of regular substitutions, but the libero can substitute for anyone in the back row an unlimited number of times. She wears a different colored jersey so the officials know not to tally that substitution.

The Indians hope that all these different techniques will translate into a strong performance at the state championships this weekend at Glens Falls.