06/03/2026
Its nearing the end of the season and I’m seeing the posts about lack of opportunities - especially those in the Middle hitter MH an middle blocker MB position talking about their kid never gets sets…
This just screams signs of not understanding and knowing the responsibilities for this position. Better late than never - maybe this will save you some heartache and stress for next year. Maybe this post will help your shift your goals and your expectations for next season. Maybe this will help guide your summer camps, clinics and training selection heading into tryouts this summer.
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Her first and foremost job is blocker.
So make sure she is super attentive and focused on blocking.
She should be striving to get her points defensively from the blocks she roofs and blocks she redirects to the floor or off a player resulting in a point.
You’ll hear of middles having 20 blocks in a match, but may have only had 8 total hit attempts and 4 kills.
Yes middles get set about 20% of the time or even less. And she is one of two middles so for her that’s 5-10% only, because it is shared.
outside being the majority of all the sets +75% and right sides even less 10-15%.
So over the course of a game / set if she is being set ~3 times in a game = that might be right and expected. So 2 sets, 3 sets in a match she may get set ~10 times.
Meanwhile the outside may be set 20-50 times.
Especially if your daughters 3 front row rotations has her rotating across the net pretty fast due to turnovers. She may not get set at all. Or if your team is serving really well and getting a lot of points… if the ball isn’t coming back over the net to run an offense - she isn’t getting set either… but no one is.
We had school games this season: 25-1, and other was 25-2 only our setter (server #1) and my own daughter (server #2) got any stats they just served out the matches.
Also you need to consider the backrow players and skill of them when your kid is in front row… if it’s the weaker serve receive and defensive line up… without good passes the middle will not get set. If your outside, DS, Libero aren’t very good your kid has very little chance of being set.
Then is she / when she transitions behind 10’ line she may be there and be loud… seemingly ready to hit..
after she blocks and gets back ready to attack - BUT if those passes are not to target and to the right side of middle of the net = she isn’t going to be set. The setter can’t set her only outside, back set to right side, or set the back row. Middle hitter at that point doesn’t become an option.
The ball / setter needs to be in front of her ie. closer to the net than she is to allow her approach.
IF she isn’t blocking at all or is blocking but too slow to transition behind the 10’ line I’ll tell my setter not to set her = she isn’t ready at all.
But if she has transitioned to the 10’ line and the pass isn’t to the setter in front of her between her and the net = meaning the ball is behind her shoulder it’s farther away from tue net than your daughter is = the setter still won’t / can’t set her.
Finally when all things are perfect pass is to target, ball and setter are to her right side, ball and setter are in front of her closer to the net… your kid did everything right… and alas this is now when she should expect to only be set 20% of the “set-able” attempts… it aches me but often times those perfect pass moments still do not result in the setter giving the middle hitter the ball.
If you have a really good setter who can read the opposing teams defense - see they have a strong excellent middle blocker on their side, a weaker blocker matched up with your teams outside or right side… they are not going to set the middle (your daughter) because it simply would not be smart to. It would not be the best % or chance of success. The setter shouldn’t want to set the player most likely to be blocked.
Your middle needs to learn how to move on the court in relationship to the ball… so there is a clear line of attack. She has to stay behind the ball/ setter (keeping the ball and setter between her and the net), so instead of 10’ she may need to back up to 14 foot off the net (assuming there isn’t a back row attacker behind her). She needs to move left to keep the ball and setter to her right side. So yea it looks like she is encroaching on the outside hitter - but they are supposed to be off the court anyway ready to take their approach and hit a ball near the antenna. These things make your daughter actually “set-able”.
So your starting number/ baseline of times your daughter could have and should have been set may be flawed. Because if she didn’t do these things she was never “set-able” to begin with.
Now if your kid is the serving middle… it means not only is your kid a better server but also defender.
So it may look as though the other middle is getting set more than your kid… and guess what = it’s true.
Because when your kid is serving and back row it is a stronger line up. Your team is able to keep possession of the ball for longer and produce more offensive opportunities. During that time your kid should be focused on stats such as service aces, service points, digs.
Then if your kid is the serving middle who plays in the back row - how is their back row attacks?
They should be getting set in the back row too, in fact more likely to be set as the second option after the outside hitter… instead of the front row middle or right side… especially if the passes are not to target or closer to the 10’ line.
Can your kid set? Is she getting second ball out of system? If setter plays defense usually the libero gets the second ball. But guess what the libero is on the bench, because your middle is in serving. So can your girl set? During this time she should be focused on assist stats. Set the players so they can get kills.
And then lastly if and when you go get set as a middle you need to be getting = kills!
If she is hitting and the ball is only going over the net and inbounds and being played by the other team… that is “not good”. If she she is getting blocked… that is also “not good” but people tend to understand that one…
but if she isn’t getting a kill with immediate point that isn’t good either. Over and in is not a measure of success.
It seems you and she are chasing a hitting attempt stat… when actually the real stats to consider are hitting error (net, out, block) and kill stat.
Your middle should be having the highest kill % on the team despite having the fewest number of sets and hitting attempts.
If you want your middle to be able to earn those other stat categories and gain more valuable playing time she needs to be sure she is a very strong server. A good strong server is one who earns service aces. Getting points with the other team either not touching the ball (straight to the floor) or shanking the ball so that it’s not playable.
She should want to earn the “serving” middle position on the team.
And then after she serves girl needs to be able to pass and play defense. Dig balls consistently to the setter target zone.
How can your kid prove they are best player for the middle position???
Block and earn the team points off her front row blocks.
Block disrupt the other teams hitter so they can’t hit hard / clearly.
Serve so she has the chance to gain her team points off aces.
Serve so she can play back row.
Set so she can back up the setter and take second ball out of system and let her teammates attack aggressively.
Set so she can earn those assist stats.
Pass so that she can extend her playing time by allowing her team to run an offense - setter set the hitters.
Hit - make sure your middle can attack aggressively from back row, gaining kills even from back row, or at least keeping the ball in play. But not just sending free ball passes or hand sets over the net.
Kills- when she does get set in the front row bury the ball on the opponents side of the court. Either tool their block, or crush the ball to the floor, or hit it so hard the defense shanks it off the court.
I played 6 rotation middle hitter even in college. Both my older daughters do sometimes play middle - not their primary position - but when they do they are also 6 rotation middles. The libero plays for the outsides or even just one of the middles when my daughters play middle. Because they can do all those things above.ga eact
