Here at NetBet, we’ve got a whole load of great markets for sports betting, and we offer some of the best Volleyball odds around. We don’t just take bets on individual matches; we offer online betting on plenty of deeper markets on our UK betting site. If you want to place any sports bet, here’s a quick guide on how exactly you should go about it.
What is Volleyball?
Volleyball is a non-invasive, competitive team sport played between two teams on a rectangular court with boundaries and an elevated net (approx. 8ft) that divides the court into two even halves. The two teams, one on each side of the net, consist of six players each. There are two variants of competitive volleyball that are mainly played all over the world – indoor and beach volleyball.
The players, using closed fists, hit a ball (similar in size to a football but lighter) back and forth over the net, with three or fewer hits. Each team tries to score the most points by grounding the ball on the opposing team’s side of the court so that they cannot return the ball to the other end. Volleyball usually involves 3 or 5 sets; the team to win the most sets by the end of a game is declared the winner.
Being the fifth most popular sport in the world, volleyball is played throughout every continent in over 200 countries by around 800 million people from varying age categories. It was first introduced as an official Olympic sport in the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. This was followed by the Olympics debut of beach volleyball during the 1996 Summer Olympics held in Atlanta.
History of Volleyball
Volleyball was invented by a YMCA (Young Men’s Christian Association) physical education director named William G. Morgan in December 1895 in Holyoke, Massachusetts. At the time, volleyball was referred to as Mintonette, but was later changed to volleyball because of the volleying nature of the game after Dr Alfred Halstead, a professor at Springfield College, suggested it.
The idea was to create a game that served as an alternative to basketball but demanded far less physical contact. To do so, Morgan borrowed various elements from other sports like tennis, baseball, handball, and basketball. In the following years, the game’s popularity spread around the USA. Spalding, an American sports publishing company, produced books with complete instructions and rules for volleyball in the early 1900s.
Basketballs, which were initially used for volleyball, were thought to be too heavy for the game and were replaced by Morgan after he introduced the much lighter and smaller volleyballs in 1900. Since YMCA societies played essential roles in regions such as China, South America, Africa, and India, volleyball became widely known in these areas.
In 1922, the first nationwide volleyball tournament in the United States was organised by the National YMCA Physical Education Committee in New York, while the United States Volleyball Association (USVBA) was established in 1928. Following the end of World War II, the first international federation, the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB), was founded in 1947. The FIVB conducted the first World Volleyball Championships in 1949 for men and 1952 for women.
Volleyball became an official Olympic sport in the 1964 Summer Olympics held in Tokyo, with Japan winning the first gold medal in the women’s volleyball category and the USSR winning the first gold in the men’s category.
How do I bet on Volleyball?
Seeing as volleyball is one of the most popular sports in the world, we have made sure to provide our users with an extensive variety of betting markets for all major volleyball competitions and events. These include the Champions League, World Championship Women, and the World Championships (men and women).
Some of the betting markets you can expect at our site include:
- Outright – With this bet, you wager on the team you predict will win a volleyball tournament or championship.
- Group Winner – You get the opportunity to bet on the group winner at the group stage of a particular competition. The bets are settled after all the matches in that group have been played.
- Top 3 Finish – This market allows you to bet on the teams you think will make up the top three finishers in a specific tournament.
- Winner – This bet allows you to pick the winner of a volleyball match.
- Handicap Points – Handicaps are enforced to even out the odds between two teams, where one is clearly the favourite. To win this bet, the team you choose must win the match even after the predetermined handicap is applied to the final scoring.
- Handicap Set – You predict the outcomes of a specific set after the handicap is applied.
- Over/Under – You bet on whether the total points scored by both teams by the end of a volleyball match will be over (more) or under (less) a value specified by the bookmaker.
- Future Bet – Using this betting market, you place a wager on a team you believe will end up winning an upcoming event.
- Match Odd/Even – This bet type allows you to bet on whether the total score at the end of a volleyball match will be an odd or even number.
When you choose NetBet Sport, you can enjoy a whole range of top-quality sports and markets. Whatever you choose, always remember to bet responsibly. Here at NetBet, player wellbeing is our number one priority – check out our Responsible Gambling tips and tools page for more information.
