Professional volleyball’s officiating controversy has evolved from a double move on a serve to a position fault.
The double serve controversy started in the men’s game. In the men’s KEPCO-Hyundai Capital match at Suwon Gymnasium on March 26, the two teams clashed head-to-head after both teams used double serves in quick succession. Both teams were desperate for a win after failing to get their first win since the start of the season.
KEPCO’s Ha Seung-woo used a double move at the end of the second set to trigger a positional fault from HMC’s apogee spiker Ahmed. HMC responded with a double move of its own in the third set to trigger a positional fault from Ha Seung-woo. Prior to this, OK Financial Group also used a double move on their serve. 보스토토
The controversy was sparked by Japanese volleyball. During the Kobo Cup tournament held in August ahead of the start of the Dodram 2023-2024 V-League, Japanese invitational team Panasonic executed a double move. Sensing that Korean players were pre-positioning themselves to attack immediately after their opponent’s serve, Panasonic pretended to run to serve, then stopped and served again. The Korean players were tricked into committing a positional fault and giving up a point.
A positional fault is a volleyball term. In volleyball, there is a rule that players must stay in a certain spot on the court, from 1 to 6, until the moment they serve. If you move out of that position, it’s a positional fault and you lose a point.
As the double serve was about to be utilized in the real world, some coaches seemed to put the issue to rest as they revealed that they had a gentlemen’s agreement. “I saw it on the video when I came, and it didn’t look good,” GS Caltex women’s coach Cha Sang-hyun told reporters ahead of their match against Heungkuk Life at Jangchung Gymnasium on March 31, adding, “You shouldn’t teach it, you shouldn’t try it. It’s unsportsmanlike behavior.”
He said the agreement was reached through a KakaoTalk chat room. “I told the women’s team coaches on KakaoTalk that we shouldn’t try women’s volleyball, and all the coaches agreed. It’s not just me,” he said, adding, “The players can use their heads as much as they want, but if you imagine them doing it every time they serve, it can create a bad scene for the viewer. It’s important to keep it fair.”
The men’s as well as the women’s coaches reportedly agreed not to use the double serve, but Japanese coach Masashi Ogino of OK Financial Group brought up a new topic.
Speaking to reporters before the team’s home match against Woori Card on March 3, Ogino pointed out that the double serve controversy stems from the Korean volleyball scene’s lack of sensitivity to positional faults.
The reason why the Japanese invitational team Panasonic used a double serve was because Korean teams habitually committed positional errors. In the V-League, the opponent’s apogee spiker often crosses the court before the serve is even hit, Ogino criticized. He points out that there would be no double serve if there was no positional fault in the first place.
Ogino’s point is well taken, as the positional fault is an official volleyball rule.
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