The Ball’s in Their Court : Setters Make the Call, Play Defense, Block and Serve, Too

Baseball players have it rough? Right.

With a pitch barreling down at speeds that can reach close to 100 m.p.h., batters are forced to make a multitude of split-second decisions. The complex process and the relationship between the pitch and the hitter have been studied and analyzed.

But batters should check out the grueling and underestimated decision-making process of the setter, a position in volleyball often compared to a point guard or quarterback.

“I wanted to stay away from the cliche that the setter is the quarterback of the team, but you can’t get around it,” said Mike Hurlbut, Dana Hills girls’ volleyball coach.

Laguna Beach Coach Mike Soylular is partial to the basketball analogy and concludes that setting is the most important job in volleyball, a sentiment echoed by many coaches.

“You don’t see a lot of NBA teams without a great guard,” Soylular said. “It’s the same in volleyball. You’ll never see a championship team without a good setter.”

A good setter is like a carton of fresh milk. You don’t know how good it is until it has gone sour. When the setter is on, everyone else looks divine.

A setter must read and dissect dozens of signs on both sides of the net. Before setters even get to the ball, they already have read the opposition’s defense--where the blockers are, what the hitters are up to and what the best matchups are. They then decide what kind of set to make, who to set to and where to set the ball. And don’t forget, they do this in a matter of seconds while chasing down passes that might be several body lengths away from their target.

According to Lance Stewart, a former setter at Laguna Beach High (1977-81) and current girls’ coach at Corona del Mar, setting is a complex art that goes largely unappreciated. With their impressive accumulation of kills, outside hitters get much of the glory, but it’s the setter who gives them the means to make those flashy spikes.

“There are so many decisions a setter has to make,” he said. “I don’t think most people have any idea of the thought process behind what they’re seeing.”

Said Soylular: “The setter needs to be taught so many more things than the hitter. She needs to know strengths and weaknesses on both sides. She creates holes on the block, creates one-on-one situations. She needs to see weaknesses in the opponents.”

Most high school programs use the 5-1 offense, with five attackers and one setter. Corona del Mar uses a modified setup, with UCLA-bound Kim Coleman and Duke-bound Kristen Campbell sharing the setting responsibilities and all six players attacking.

High school teams generally run eight to 10 simple sets--compared to the more complex ones used on college and international levels--and all interpret the basic sets a little differently.

“Everyone has their own terminology, but basically they’re the same (sets),” said Ron Kasser, Sunny Hills girls’ coach. “We use three different back-row sets, three to the outside, three quick sets, three high sets in the front row.

At the very basic level, Kasser said, matchups--who goes against whom--and the number of strong hitters a setter has determines the set to make.

“A lot of times, it’s who she has confidence in,” he said. “That and matchups are a good way to look at it.”

Los Alamitos setter Katie Pearce can determine before a match which of her hitters is pumped up.

“You watch them during warm-ups, you can tell by that who will be on or off,” she said. “You need a good warm-up to be on.”

Running the offense, a setter touches the ball during 33% of a match, an average of once on every exchange. Terry Liskevych, national women’s team coach, said a player so heavily involved has to be someone exceptional.

“How important is setting? You’re talking about someone who has a third of all contact,” said Liskevych, who added that at the high school level, it’s important to be good and smart and then fancy.

“Technically, the ability to deliver the ball, that’s the No. 1 thing,” he said. “Can you get your feet in position and can you get the ball in play? Tactically speaking, it is the ability to be a leader on the floor. As the link between the pass and the hitter, you need to be the on-court absorber of all the different personalities of the team. When your teammates are losing their heads, you have to keep yours.”

In addition to being able to set--footwork, speed, quickness and soft hands are key--setters have to play defense, block and serve well.

“You’re not going to pass or hit, so you’d better be able to do those skills well,” Liskevych said.

Coach after coach also emphasized the importance of consistency.

‘If you’re not consistent, who cares?” Soylular said. “Nothing else will matter because you can’t execute.”

Physically, there are skills that setters can develop to become top-notch. But almost every coach referred to the psychological toughness a setter must have.

“Ask any NFL coach what the most important quality of a quarterback is, and the first thing out of his mouth better be leadership,” Hurlbut said. “Being a leader is more important than any physical quality.”

Said Soylular: “She needs to be emotionally strong so your team won’t go in the tank. She has to know who’s hot that night and whether or not to go back to someone if they just got roofed. You want your setter to be intelligent, stubborn and opinionated.”

Dusty Dvorak of Laguna Beach is such a player. Dvorak, still active on the beach four-man tour, set for the national team when the United States won Olympic gold medals in 1984 and 1988. He is considered one of the all-time best players at the setting position.

Dvorak had a reputation of playing mind games with his teammates--telling them he was going to set them on the next play and often not following through--in order to get them to perform. It was a trait that didn’t always endear him to his teammates, but it got the job done.

“The setter mentality should be “How do I crawl my way into winning?’ ” said Liskevych.

Said Stewart: “If you were going to mold the prototype of a good setter, first and foremost, you need the undeniable will to win. If I could pick and choose, you want your best athlete to be a setter and you like them to be a leader.”

Perhaps because he was a setter, Stewart expects more from his two setters than from the rest of his players. But the pressure from coaches--and from running the entire offense--is what some setters thrive on.

Carolyn Sarnecki has set for several clubs, including three years for Sunny Hills. You couldn’t pay her to play another position.

“The setter gets to lead the team,” she said. “I like the responsibility, having control of the game. There’s just something about it.”

Mater Dei Coach Laura Kennedy, who was a setter for the Monarchs and the Orange County Volleyball Club before playing at Pepperdine (1986-90), said the mental aspect distinguishes mediocre from great setters.

“You can’t have someone who’s emotionally distraught,” she said. “Her bad days and good days should hardly be distinguishable.”

How one is raised can even be a factor. If a setter chooses to set her friend rather than the player who has the best matchup, she’s not doing her job.

“Boys are raised to be competitive, whereas girls may be raised to be more social,” Liskevych said. “That can come into play in an important part of a match. A guy will set whoever’s hot, but a girl might think about the social implications, have I set her enough, will she be mad if I don’t set her, things like that.”

At the college and international levels, woman and men are equally qualified to make decisions based on the good of the team, but that’s not always the case in high school.

“Emotions aren’t fully developed at that level,” said Soylular. “There’s definitely an entity in high school, you run into that all the time. They never liked each other as sixth-graders, or they’re best friends now. There will always be jealousy involved.”

Kennedy said quality high school setters will put aside unresolved conflicts or petty differences for the good of the team.

“A good setter is someone who can put personal things aside and be fair,” Kennedy said.

Golden West’s Al Gasparian, coach of the nationally top-ranked Rustlers, says setting is the weakest position on the court in women’s volleyball.

“The reason is, people don’t put their greatest athletes there and that’s where they should be putting they’re best athletes.”

Charlie Brande, who runs Balboa Bay Club and has helped turn out a majority of Orange County’s top players, agrees to a point, noting that the current crop of setters, including Corona del Mar’s Coleman and Campbell, Del Mar Torrey Pines’ Cary May and Los Altos’ Lisa Sharpley, are among “the best high school group in the last 10 years.”

Liskevych said boys’ programs have traditionally known the importance of setting, while girls’ programs are realizing it now.

“The (male setters) developed between 1975 and 1993 were very good,” he said. “For women, that’s not the case. Setting has always been a glamour position for the men, but not the women. But I think that’s changing.”

Traditionally, the shortest player on a team is the setter. It’s a trend that has changed in the last five or six years, but it’s still common to see someone 5 feet 5 or 5-6 playing the setter.

“The Kim Colemans are the exceptions to the rule, which is to stick the little, quick girl in as a setter so she can run around, “ said Gasparian, who singled out 6-0 Coleman to make his point. (Teammate Campbell is 5-11.)

“People put so much emphasis on the emotion role, they’re forgetting the athletic requirements. Not to say that’s bad, but it takes the most skill to perform as a setter. The people who win have always understood that. It’s no secret why the same people win every year.”