The longest set ever

   A few years ago, my volleyball coach came up with an idea of quizing one another. Everybody had to think about some questions to test other people but it turnt out that even the makers of the questions didn't get the answers correct. That is how I discovered the problem of the longest set in history.
   As we know, in volleyball we play 3 sets until someone scores 25 or one team has to reach 2 points more than the other- so that means that even at 25, they have to keep on playing until one team is visibly better. That usually takes about half an hour- sometimes longer, sometimes shorter, depending on the strenght of the players. And what if none of the teams refuses to give up and they keep playing better and better? How long would the longest set last? How many points would the teams score?
   Let's look at some examples from the history of volleyball. The longest set ever ended with the score of 87-85. The game was played in Czechoslovak League in 1979. Unfortunatly none of my sorces tells me how long it took. I wish I'd known! However, the higest scoring set in a World Cup reached 32-34 when Canada beat Australia in 2015.
   I really admire the players for their stamina and emotional strenght.

 

 

My sources:
http://www.volleyball-movies.net/fanclubs/discussion/the-longest-set-in-the-history-of-volleyball-329
http://www.cbc.ca/m/sports/canada-australia-volleyball-world-1.3226212

The oldest volleybal player

   Working as a sportsman isn't as easy as it seems. If you choose that kind of career, you must accept the consequences associated with this at the same time.  

First of all, the sports injuries. Every pro player has suffered a number of injuries- smaller ones, like some finger problems or bigger ones, like a serious knee injury or a broken backbone. A lot of injuries activate later, not at first. That's probably the reason why volleyball players usually end their career at the age of 30-35. The second thing is the fact, that a national volleyball player spends a half of his life either on the national team or on some kind of championships, tournaments and matches. They don't have so much time for their families- sometimes they even can't spend Christmas with them. This heart-breaking fact can also be the reason why they decide to retire at such a young age. 

   Anyway, there are some players who play longer despite all of these difficulties. Igor Shulepov is 44-year-old russian player. He is plays in a team named Gubernya Nizhny Novogrod. What is more, he is still playing in Russian national team representation. He is the oldest volleyball player who is still playing and training.

Underneath, you can see what Shupelov looks like. Does he look old in your opinion? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My sources :

 

http://www.volleywood.net/volleyball-pictures-galleries/15-of-the-worlds-oldest-players-still-playing/

http://www.volleyball-movies.net/fanclubs/discussion/10-of-the-worlds-oldest-players-still-playing-848

 

The most powerful serve

   Everyone knows that in volleyball the ball actually often flies in the air. But I wonder if anyone ever consideres the speed at which it can fly and how hard you have to hit the ball to make it fly this way. Apparently some strange people took to measuring those speeds. Thanks to them we know that usually the ball travels at a speed of well over 100 km/h- that's faster than some cars. Woman can't hit hit the ball that hard- the record is 103 km/h and was broken by Yanelis Santos. However the official record for men belongs to Georg Grozer and is 131 km/h. It was so powerful that his opponents couldn't take the ball. 2 years have passed and noone can do the same or better. On the other hand you need to fullfil certain criteria if you want your record official. One of them is the brand of ball you use. Matey Kaziyski used a Molten ball, which is supposed to be faster and that's why his record is unofficial. If you want to have your record officially approved you need to use Mikasa ball. It is the official ball of worlds championships produced by a japanese company.
   Here is the link to the movie with Grozer's impressive serve. Just look at his sculpted arms!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My sources:

 

http://eurosport.onet.pl/siatkowka/mistrzostwa-swiata-siatkarzy/ms-siatkarzy-2014-rekord-predkosci-zagrywki-gyorgy-ego-grozera/xgsk8

http://www.fivb.org/viewHeadlines.asp?No=34473&Language=en

http://www.volleywood.net/volleyball-related-news/volleyball-news-north-america/kaziyski-santos-lightning-spikes/