Effect of quality of opposition on game performance indicators in elite male volleyball

Performance in a volleyball match is the result of a dynamic and interactive process between two teams. The current study aimed to investigate the influence of the quality of opposition on skill performance indicators. A total of 550 teams’ performances (N = 550) from 275 sets of men’s European Championship 2019 was recorded and the effectiveness of 12 parameters from 5 basic volleyball skills was analyzed. A two-step cluster analysis was performed to divide 24 teams into three quality groups (upper, middle, lower) and 6 types of match status were created according to the quality of the opponents. Binomial logistic regression showed that for each type of match, the key performance factors that discriminate win and loss are differentiated, while the efficacy of attack win is associated with the success almost with all contexts studied. Other significant parameters were serve aces for matches between upper-quality teams, opponent’s errors for matches between teams of different quality and avoidance of blocked attacks for balanced matches. The findings emphasize the need for coaches to plan strategies that allow players with special serving abilities to risk for an ace, to enhance the side-out skills of their team and to work detailed on attack coverage systems.