The analysis of game actions in elite volleyball: a comparative study

The objective of this study was to analyze the game actions of elite athletes participating in the 2023 Men's European Volleyball Championship. To achieve this, during the group stage, the teams in Group D—comprising France, Romania, Greece, Portugal, Turkey, and Israel—were analyzed, totaling 30 matches, 84 athletes assessed (12 setters, 12 opposites, 24 middle blockers, 24 outside hitters, and 11 liberos) and 1176 game actions observed. A comparison of means for more than two independent variables was performed using ANOVA (with Tukey's post-hoc test) to identify significant differences between independent variables. To calculate effect size, Cohen’s d method was used (d < 0.2 trivial; 0.2 < d ≤ 0.6 small; 0.6 < d ≤ 1.2 moderate; 1.2 < d ≤ 2.0 large; and d ≥ 2.0 very large). The results showed differences in technical actions between countries, particularly among France, Greece, and Israel, in the technical actions of Attack Effectiveness (55.2%, 30.6%, and 22.9%, respectively) and Aces achieved (3.07, 0.73, and 0.79, respectively) during the competition (p = 0.018 and p = 0.048, respectively). These findings highlight the importance of offensive actions, namely attack and service, as key performance determinants in elite competitions.