Events

Volleyball is experiencing rapid growth in the U.S., with rising attendance, record-breaking TV ratings, and the expansion of professional leagues. Yet, despite its popularity, the availability of accessible, public-facing stats and analytics lags other major sports. This talk explores the world of volleyball analytics and how they can be used to better understand the game. We begin with an overview of building a predictive team ranking system for NCAA Women's Volleyball, and what lessons we can draw from similar efforts in other sports. From there, we dive deeper into what stats are most important to winning volleyball games. As inspiration, we use the "Four Factors" framework developed and popularized by Dean Oliver for basketball, which also gives us the opportunity to make connections between the two sports. Beyond team analysis, we discuss advanced player metrics, including on/off impact, front row versus back row performance, and enhanced attack and reception statistics. We're excited to share what we've learned so far in building evollve.net and look forward to getting input and ideas from the broader volleyball and sports analytics community.