Setter
A volleyball position that takes the team's second touch to set the ball up for an attacker.
Definition
In volleyball, the setter is the player who usually takes the second of a team's three touches and delivers an accurate set for a team-mate to attack. Often compared to a playmaker, the setter decides which attacker to feed and how to disguise the play from the opposing block.
Good setting relies on soft, controlled hands, quick footwork to reach the ball and clear decision-making under pressure. Because they touch the ball so often, setters are central to how a team builds and varies its attack.
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Rules
- Volleyball rotationThe rule that players rotate one position clockwise each time their team wins back the serve.
- Three-hit ruleThe volleyball rule that a team may contact the ball at most three times before it must cross the net.
- Ball-handling faultsVolleyball faults for catching, carrying or double-contacting the ball rather than cleanly hitting it.
- Touching the netA net-play rule that penalises a player for contacting the net during a rally in net-divided sports.
Skills
Tactics
- Court coverage and rotationVolleyball positioning where players rotate through positions and cover the court as one coordinated unit.
- Serve-receive formationHow a volleyball team arranges its passers to receive the serve and set up a clean first attack.
- Tennis doubles formationsHow doubles teams position and why — the standard one-up-one-back start, poaching, the Australian formation and the I-formation, and what each one takes away from the returner.
Positions
- SetterThe setter is volleyball’s playmaker, taking the team’s second contact and delivering accurate sets for hitters to attack.
- OppositeThe opposite is a volleyball attacker who plays on the right side of the net, opposite the setter in the rotation, and is often a key scorer.
- Middle blockerThe middle blocker plays in the centre of the net, leading the team’s blocking and attacking with fast, quick sets.
- Centre (netball)The centre is netball’s link between attack and defence, the only player allowed in every third except the two goal circles, and the player who takes the centre pass.
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How this page is maintained
- Content type
- Term
- Provenance
- Tier A — evergreen educational
- Verified external sources
- 0
- Content updated
- 2026-09-01
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