Use a 4-2! as it is better than running a multiple offense!  A multiple offense is a 6-2 or a 5-1. These offenses require a person in the back row to penetrate to the net during a rally and set the ball. You should only run a 6-2 if your two setters are your two best hitters. If this is not true then DO NOT RUN A 6-2! End of that conversation! The only time you should run a 5-1 is when one of your setters is 1,000,000 times better than your other setter. But in addition, your team must be able to pass a serve
receive, free balls and digs on target to the setter's position 75% of the time! Therefore, only a few teams should be running a multiple offense.  The rest of you should be using a 4-2! Note: a team from Iowa won the national championships using a 4-2. I would only run a 5-1 if I had a lefty setter or a lefty offside player so that the setter could set her back sets, which meant, she would be an onside hitter on the right side. (If you do not understand the previous sentence then you should not run a 5-1!) Please
note, every international team uses a 5-1. Therefore, in three rotations they actually have a 4-2. Why is it that international teams can use a system that has only two hitters for three rotations but you run a 5-1 in an effort to fool the international blockers on the Palmetto Punters!

Why is the 4-2 better? First, defense wins games. Keeping the opponent's hit from striking the floor will result in a point for your side. Therefore, at the most crucial moment in a volleyball rally you are assigning your best athlete (setter) to do two jobs. She must decide in a third of a second to dig a ball or penetrate to the net to set the ball. In addition, since she is your setter, you are playing her in the right back; but the right back is where the fewest number of balls are hit. Therefore, you have taken your quickest and best athlete out of the defensive pattern as she is playing in the least important defensive position. If she was playing left back or
middle back and only had to concentrate on digging the ball she could improve the team's defense 1,000%. Pride in digging the ball is the number one way to improve your teams chances of winning in volleyball. (The 5-1 setter rarely sees herself as a defensive player.)

   By having the front row setter set, it means she is already at the net
Upon contact of the serve receive, free ball or dig. It is a rare occasion that the penetrating back row setter gets all the way to the net. Therefore, she is setting from eight feet off the net which limits her ability to set a quick offense which was the purpose of running the 5-1 in the first place!  In addition, if she runs all the way to the net and the pass is off the net she must now stop, turn, and run back into the court which means she rarely is stable when setting the ball. Another situation in which a front row setter has the advantage is when your pass is on top of the net. The
Front row setter can go up and clear the ball from the net. But a penetrating setter cannot jump as she will be a back row attacker. Therefore, all those bad passes that are currently dribbling into the net and falling to the floor will be saved by the front row setter. Your setter can also block the over bumps while the back row penetrating setter can only stand there and watch as the opponent's hitter nails her in the face! But the best thing about a front row setter is she can "dump," the ball. She becomes an attacker. In addition, your middle hitter will be able to automatically
retreat off the net after blocking because she will not have an assignment of saving bad passes as the front row setter is already there to save any digs that are flying into the net.

   By having the front row setter setting the ball you can run a slide in six rotations. The slide is the most devastating hit in volleyball and should be used more often by all teams. If you use a 5-1, it limits your ability to run a slide as (in three rotations) you have a right side hitter and it will be confusing as to whose ball it is when the set goes to the right side.  Should the middle hitter hit the slide or should the right side player hit a back set?  (One athlete told me she could run a crossing pattern...is she kidding?!!!! I know in club ball they practice it all the time, but