What kind of formation is used in volleyball at a high school level? What about at a college level?

Question

I am a right side/opposite hitter and I was wondering if in high school they usually use a 4-2, 5-1, or a 6-2? What about colleges?

Answer 1

My high school ran a 4-2 for the Freshman team and sometimes JV for the first part of the season before switching to a 5-1, depending on the skill levels of players.  The Varsity team pretty much ran a 6-2 all the time, although one year we ran a 5-1 for a little while.

Answer 2

4-2 formation is rarely used at competition level.

Either 6-2 or 5-1 can be used in high school level volleyball depending on what kind of players you have.  If your 2 best setters are also good hitters, then you go with 6-2.  If you have 1 good setter who is short and doesn't hit very well, then you stick with 5-1.  When you're given a limited number of players, you can only try to make the best use of them.  In my college club team, our 2 most experienced players were the best setters and the best hitters so we ran 6-2.  And when one of the setters injured his shoulder and couldn't hit anymore, we ran 5-1.

5-1 is used in higher level volleyball including colleges, professional leagues, and Olympics.  Higher the level, more specialized the individual role.  They basically want the best setter they could get to set all the time.

Answer 3

Most high level teams play 6-2, with some of them playing 5-1 variations when they got a decent setter.

4-2 is really for begin-mid level teams.

Answer 4

Yea 4-2 is rarely used at any level because i takes away a front row hitting option at all times.

And the formation that a team plays depends on the type of right side/setters a team has.

If a team only has one person on the team who is a very good setter then they will use a 5-1 offense. I think this is more common at the university level because of the higher skill level of the hitters. I play as a setter for university ball and this is the formation we play, sure when the setter comes to the front row we lose a front row hitting option, but because the hitters are better at a higher level, our right side is able to hit back row C balls.

However, if a team has two guys who can set and have a couple good hitters from the right side they will pay a 6-2...this happens more at the high school level because you can tend to get smaller setters so when they come to the front they get subbed off for someone who can hit and block...this way you will always have the three front row hitting options which is great for high school because it is easier and there are not many players who have the ability to hit back rows effectively.

So it all matters on the type of players a team has.

Personally as a setter i like the 5-1 because you stay in a rythm, and the hitters can stay used to one setter's style and don't have to adjust to the different styles of two setters.