An analysis of the confrontations in the first sequence of game actions in Brazilian volleyball

Volleyball is a game in which the changing of ball possession between the opponents is essential in the dispute for points. In male volleyball, this dispute ends usually after the first attack. due to the superiority of the offensive actions. In view of this fact, this study tries to characterize the first sequence of the game actions. Twenty matches of the Brazilian high-level male volleyball were watched, from a total of 77 games and 3471 sequences of attack actions. Some indicators of the game final results were evaluated through the regression analysis. The model presented three variables in its equation (blocking performance, service performance, and attack mistakes performance), which made it possible to predict correctly the final result of a team in one set (victory or defeat), in 77.92% of the trials. Considering that the blocking performance was the first variable to be inserted in the model, accurately predicting the results in 72.73% of the trials, it highlights the importance of the attack x block confrontation to determine the game's final results.