The Journal

Issue date: 10/26/06 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Brent Holzapfel Gorlok libero senior Susi Riegel glances back as the team huddled during an Oct. 24 home game. As libero, Riegel dons a different jersey than her teammates. The libero position was added to the college game in 2002.

For some fans of the women's volleyball team, a question is raised whenever they look out on the court: Why is there a different colored uniform on only one of the players?

The player is the libero, a specialized defense position that is a recent addition to the game of volleyball.

The Webster University women's volleyball team regularly uses liberos, senior Susi Riegel, and freshman Ashley Scanio, who also plays setter.

"Playing libero in the game can be difficult because you are anchoring the defense out on the floor, so your defense is expected to be top notch," Scanio said.

The libero player in volleyball is a fairly new position in a sport that has been played since 1895. The position was introduced internationally in 1998 to keep a defender on the floor and was introduced by the NCAA in 2002.

One of the advantages to having a libero at the college level is Division I schools can give athletic scholarships to good defensive players, along with the hitters and setters.

The word "libero" means free in Italian, but the rules for the position are extensive. Liberos must wear a contrasting jersey color from his or her teammates and cannot block or attack the ball when it is above net height. When the ball is not in play, the libero can replace any back-row player. The libero replacements do not count against the 15-person substitution limit allowed per set: However, the libero can only removed from play by the person they originally replaced.

According to international rules liberos are not allowed to serve. In 2004, the NCAA made it permissible for liberos to serve in women's volleyball games so long as the serve came in a specific rotation. Liberos on NCAA men's teams are not allowed to serve.

There is no special training to become a libero in volleyball. It takes practice with the team, like any other position in the sport.

"I played a lot more libero in practice to help me prepare for playing it in the games," Scanio said. "We also had specialty sessions a half an hour before practices which really helped a lot."

The number of setters increased for the women's volleyball team this year from last year, so the libero replacements not counting as a substitution are convenient.

"For us, the libero usually plays back row for more than one player," Head Coach Merry Graf said. "We use subs for our setters in the front row."

In case of an injury, the libero can be replaced by a member of the team not on the court at the time of the injury. That player must remain libero for the remainder of the game, and the injured libero may not re-enter to play the remainder of the match.

A libero can be replaced by another libero, but only after another player has been registered for that game. Once the position is set, that player must stay the libero for the entire game.

"It is not hard to switch back and forth between positions," Scanio said. "You just have to be ready at all times to play anything that coach tells you to play."

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