Volleyball
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184 free Volleyball trivia questions with answers — sports quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
50 free volleyball trivia questions with answers. Are you a volleyball enthusiast? Put your knowledge to the test with our comprehensive 184-question volleyball trivia quiz covering everything from basic rules to legendary players and unforgettable Olympic moments. Whether you're a casual fan or a dedicated player, this quiz will challenge your understanding of the sport's rich history and exciting gameplay.
30 of 184 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01What was the original name of the sport now known as volleyball?
Mintonette
Mintonette was William Morgan's name for the game he invented in 1895, until an observer at an 1896 exhibition remarked on how the players volleyed the ball back and forth.
Q 02In indoor volleyball, how many players does each team have on the court at any one time?
6
6 a side is the modern rule, but Morgan's original game of 1895 let any number of players take the court.
Q 03Outside a tie-break set, how many points wins a set in indoor volleyball, given a two-point lead?
25
25 points with a two-point lead takes a set under rally scoring; before 1999 sets ran to 15, and only the side that had served could score.
Q 04What do players call a floor save where the ball bounces off the back of a flat hand?
Pancake
A pancake has the defender lunge and push one hand flat along the floor, palm down, a last-ditch save for a ball that is about to land.
Q 05Which indoor volleyball player wears a different coloured jersey and may not attack or block above the net?
Libero
The libero can replace any back-row player without notice to the officials, and the swap does not count against the team's substitution limit.
Q 06What was William Morgan's job when he invented volleyball in 1895?
Physical education director
Physical education director at a YMCA, Morgan ran exercise classes for businessmen and wanted a game that was less strenuous for his older members.
Q 07Which 1980s Tom Cruise film features a famous beach volleyball scene?
Top Gun
Top Gun's match, played to Kenny Loggins's 'Playing with the Boys', comes right before Maverick's dinner date with Charlie, which is why he keeps glancing at his watch between points.
Q 08Which famous Australian beach hosted the beach volleyball at the 2000 Sydney Olympics?
Bondi Beach
Bondi Beach gave the hosts a storybook finish: Australia's Natalie Cook and Kerri Pottharst beat Brazil's reigning world champions in the final, in front of their home fans.
Q 09Which volleyball skill uses the forearms to control the ball, typically when receiving a serve?
Pass
The pass, also called a bump, is played off a platform made by joining the forearms, and its usual target is the setter.
Q 10Which volleyball professional and fashion model married big-wave surfer Laird Hamilton in 1997?
Gabrielle Reece
Gabrielle Reece combined pro volleyball tours with a modelling career in New York, and met Hamilton when she interviewed him for a television show.
Q 11Excluding a block, how many times may a volleyball team hit the ball before it must cross the net?
3
3 contacts at most; in Morgan's original game a side could hit the ball as many times as it liked before sending it over the net.
Q 12Which US president kept fit with a medicine-ball game played over a volleyball net?
Herbert Hoover
Herbert Hoover's physician devised the game to keep him fit, and Hooverball still has an annual championship in West Branch, Iowa.
Q 13In volleyball, which attacking hit has a player jump and strike the ball steeply downwards over the net?
Spike
The spike is the reason teams block: front-row defenders jump with the hitter to stop the ball at the net.
Q 21Which position usually runs the 'quick' attack, leaping before the ball has even been set?
Middle Blocker
A Middle Blocker's quick attack is timed to beat the block: the hitter is already in the air when the set arrives, so opponents get little time to react.
Q 22How is the team that serves first in a volleyball match decided?
By coin toss
By coin toss; within each set, whichever team wins a rally serves the next one.
Q 23Which volleyball-style sport is played on an inflatable court with trampolines?
Bossaball
Bossaball mixes volleyball with football touches and gymnastics, and its trampolines launch attackers high above the net.
Q 14What is the primary role of a setter in indoor volleyball?
Placing the ball for attackers
Placing the ball for attackers, usually with the team's second contact, makes the setter the playmaker who decides which hitter gets to attack.
Q 15Which type of serve swerves unpredictably in flight, much like a knuckleball pitch in baseball?
Float
A float is struck with almost no spin, so the air pushes the ball about and receivers cannot tell where it will end up.
Q 16Which brand of volleyball becomes Tom Hanks's island companion in the film Cast Away?
Wilson
Wilson is both the ball's maker and the name Hanks's castaway gives it after drawing a face in his own bloody handprint.
Q 17Beach volleyball first appeared as an Olympic medal sport at which city's Games?
Atlanta
Atlanta's 1996 Games staged the first Olympic beach tournament on a man-made beach well inland, and the six-day event sold out.
Q 18What do players call a wildly mishandled ball that flies off out of every teammate's reach?
Shank
A shank sends the ball so far off target that no teammate can play it, which usually ends the rally on the spot.
Q 19Which volleyball skill saves a hard-driven attack from hitting the floor, often with a dive?
Dig
A dig brings a hard-driven ball up from close to the floor, turning the other side's best attack into a ball a teammate can play.
Q 20Which striped rods stand above each end of the net to mark the space the ball must cross within?
Antennas
Antennas extend the sidelines upward: a ball that touches one, or crosses the net outside them, is out.
Q 24What material is typically used for the outer casing of a modern volleyball?
Synthetic leather
Synthetic leather, or the real thing, covers a modern ball; Morgan first tried the bare bladder of another sport's ball, found it too light and slow, and had one made to order.
Q 25Which attack has a hitter run along the net behind the setter and take off from one foot?
Slide
A slide starts like a quick attack, then the hitter veers away to chase a low back set and jumps off one foot.
Q 26Which position usually attacks from the right side of the net and often acts as the backup setter?
Opposite Hitter
The Opposite Hitter is named for lining up across the rotation from the setter, which keeps one of the two in the front row at all times.
Q 27Beach volleyball caught on across the United States as a cheap escape during which hard times?
The Great Depression
The Great Depression made a day at the beach the cheapest fun around, and the game needed nothing more than a net and a ball.
Q 28Which country won three consecutive women's Olympic volleyball gold medals from 1992 to 2000?
Cuba
Cuba's women sat out the 1988 Games in their country's boycott, then came back to win the next three Olympic titles, a record run.
Q 29After which type of contact may the same player legally play the ball again immediately?
A block touch
A block touch is not counted as a team contact, so the blocker may make the next play on the ball without committing a fault.
Q 30The sky ball, struck so high that it drops almost straight down, is a version of which serve?
Underhand
Underhand is the action behind the sky ball: the server swings up from below the waist and sends the ball as high as possible to trouble the receiver.