Libero

Today I watched the Asian Games Final volleyball match between China and Republic of Korea (South Korea) which i think is the best and dramatic game of all. To be frank, i'm fond of the Korean sides. But, it was the Chinese sides which catch the spotlight as their came from 2 sets down to beat the Korean in a 3-2 set win which earn them the gold medals in the final day of the Asian Games. Even in the rubber game, when the Korean seems to have their hands on the gold with only one match point to go, the Chinese didn't let their faith down and fought until they clinched the title. It was a great match, the spirit from the Chinese team was overwhelming. I should say that they deserve it.

More news are as follows:

"uangzhou, China, November 27, 2010 – China came from the first two sets down to beat Korea 3-2 (21-25, 22-25, 25-10, 25-17, 16-14) in a thriller and clinch their fourth gold medal in a row at the women’s volleyball tournament of the Asian Games here on Saturday.

China quickly jumped to a 4-1 lead, forcing Korea call a timeout in the first set. After that, Korea fought to fall behind at 7-8 in the first technical timeout. Korea and China dueled point for point until 14-14. China’s errors and Korea’s blocking gave Korea a lead. Korea blocked and Chen Liyi‘s several unforced errors in spiking allowed Korea to go ahead with a four point advantage. China made nine mistakes while Korea had only three in the first set. Korea took the first set.

Korea blocked China’s top scorer Wang Yimei twice at the start of the second set and attacked with great efficiency through Yang Hyo Jin, Kim Yeon Koung and Hwang Youn Doo. China had to change the setter to let Shen Jingsi step in, but Korea were not distracted and Kim spiked the ball to clinch the set 25-22.

China found them no way to choose but to fight hard from the third set. Middle blocker Xue Ming led China’s onslaught. Korea was fined one point for technical violation which disrupted their moral and momentum. China took full advantage of that to jump to a 18-8 lead. China took the set easily.

In the fourth set, Korea stayed neck to neck with China until Xue Ming, spiker Li Juan and Wang Yimei carved a four-point lead at 17-13, when Korea made more mistakes which helped China take the set, forcing the match into the tiebreaker.

Korea opened the fifth set in better form. Xue Ming served off the court, Korea’s captain Kim Sa Nee blocked for one point and Zhou Suhong’s error in attack, allowing Korea to claw a 6-2 lead. However, Ma Yunwen collected three points through fast attack, narrowing the scores to 5-6. Wayward hits by China’s Wang gave Korea a two points lead at 13-11 and Kim Keon Young spiked to bring up match point 14-12. Korea is near their great victory. But China did not give up fighting. Veteran middle opposite Zhou Suhong, who rejoined the team only two months ago, earned one point through attacking and then served an ace, leveling the scores at 14-14. China eventually rallied back to take the match due to an off-court attack by Korea and a strong counterattack by Li Juan."(1)

The joy

So, I would like to share the word Libero which is used in the volleyball game. A Libero is a free player who plays defensive role all the time in a volleyball game.


The volleyball libero is a defensive specialist position in indoor volleyball. The position was added to the game in 1999 along with special rules for play in order to foster more digs and rallies and to make the game more exciting. The libero remains in the game at all times and is the only player not limited by rules of rotation. He usually replaces the middle blocker position when they rotate to the back row and never rotates to the front row himself.


The libero is chosen by the team before the match or tournament and that designated player must remain the libero for the entire match or tournament. If the libero is injured, he/she can be replaced by any player who is not on the court, but that player must remain the libero for the remainder of the match.

The libero is responsible for a great deal of the passing in serve receive. Often the libero will be responsible for a much greater part of the court than his teammates. The libero is in the game to add ball control, so his main responsibility is to pass the ball well so the team can run the offense. On defense the libero needs to dig well, getting a hand on every ball he can to keep the play alive. Since the libero has no attack responsibilities, he must chase down every ball he can. He may also be responsible for setting if the ball is dug by the setter or out of the setter's range.
The Libero has to be a good passer and a good digger and usually they can be spotted as the player wearing different colour of jersey.

The Libero in contrast colour of jersey

References:

1. http://www.asianvolleyball.org/Volleyball/2010-11-27/337407.html