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Injury Overview • The overall injury rate in NCAA women’s volleyball is 4.3 per 1,000 athlete exposures

(games and practices combined).

• There were more than 26,000 injuries and 6.1 million athlete exposures from 2004 to 2009.• Volleyball players are just as likely to be injured in a game (4.2 injuries per 1,000 athlete

exposures) as in practice (4.4 injuries per 1,000 athlete exposures).• Preseason has the highest overall injury rate (6.5 per 1,000 athlete exposures), while the

postseason has the lowest (2.4 per 1,000 athlete exposures) as compared to the in-season injury rate of 3.6 injuries per 1,000 athlete exposures.

• Ligament sprains (28.2 percent), followed by muscle strains (21.7 percent), tendinosis (7.5 percent) and contusions (4.6 percent), are the most common types of injuries.

• Ligament sprains of the lateral ankle (15.6 percent), concussions (4.1 percent), quadriceps (thigh) muscle strains (4.0 percent), and abdominal strains (3.0 percent) are the most common types of injury in women’s volleyball.

• The outside hitter suffered the most injuries (38.7 percent) for all positions, followed by middle blocker (27.4 percent), libero (12.0 percent), setter (10.9 percent) and opposite/diagonal player (7.5 percent).

Injuries Unique to Women’s VolleyballLigament sprains and muscle strains are the most common types of injury in NCAA women’s volleyball. In addition, more than 51 percent of the injuries occur to the lower extremity. The explosive, bounding nature of volleyball puts extraordinary amounts of strain on the lower extremity, putting the ligaments and muscles at risk. Conversely, the upper extremity, primarily the shoulder region, is at risk of overuse injuries because of the amount of overhead motion required in the sport.

Catastrophic Injuries* During this five-year period, there were no fatalities from direct mechanisms and one from indirect mechanisms in college volleyball.* During the 28 years that the National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research (NCCSIR) has collected collegiate volleyball data, there have been no deaths related to direct means (collisions) and two related to indirect mechanisms (exertion). During this same time period, there were no fatalities by either direct or indirect mechanisms in high school volleyball reported by the NCCSIR.

Heat Related Injuries Heat illness accounted for less than 1 percent of the specific injuries in NCAA women’s volleyball during this time period. It is important to remember that heat illness is preventable and coaches, athletic trainers and administrators should work diligently to prevent them, even in an indoor sport.

*National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research

Head, face  and neck 

2.3%

women’s volleyball

injuriesData from the 2004/05-2008/09 Seasons

In 2008-09, there were 1,015 NCAA member institution teams and 14,827 participants.

The average squad size was 15 players.

Concussions

4.1%

Upper limb 

21.3%Torso and pelvis 

13.8%

Lower limb  

51.1% 

Other  

7.4% 

Injury Percentage Breakdown

NCAA Sport Injury fact sheets are produced by the Datalys Center for Sports Injury Research and Prevention

in collaboration with the National Collegiate Athletic Association, and STOP Sports Injuries. The Datalys Center manages the NCAA Injury Surveillance Program. www.datalyscenter.org

Injury Prevention Tips are provided in collaboration with STOP Sports Injuries.

www.stopsportsinjuries.org

Playing Rules and Safety• The NCAA requires all players to have a preparticipation medical examination.

• The NCAA mandates institutions have a Concussion Management Plan.

• Referees will suspend the match because of a player injury.

• Medical personnel are allowed to remove a player(s) from the court for a serious injury, bleeding, oozing injuries or blood on the uniform.

• An injured player may be replaced by a substitute.

• A player shall not wear anything that is dangerous to any player.

• A player may not wear jewelry of any type whatsoever unless it is for medical alert purposes.

• Play cannot be conducted on any surface that is wet, slippery or constructed of abrasive material.

• Casts are permissible if they are covered and the referee does not consider them dangerous.

• A soft bandage to cover a wound or protect an injury on the arms or hands is permissible.

Concussions • A concussion is a brain injury.

• Concussions can occur from blows to the body as well as to the head.

• Concussions can occur without loss of consciousness or other obvious signs.

• Concussions can occur in any sport.

• All concussions are serious and

change a student-athlete’s behavior,

thinking or physical functioning.

• Recognition and proper response

to concussions when they first occur

can help prevent further injury or

even death.

More Facts about Collegiate Women’s Volleyball Injuries

• Injury is defined as those that occurred as a result of participation in an organized intercollegiate game or practice, required the attention of an athletic trainer or physician, and resulted in the restriction of participation one or more days beyond the day of injury.

• Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) sprains account for 0.6 percent of all injuries.

• The majority of injuries (35.3 percent) caused three to

six days of time loss from participation, while injuries accounting for 21 or more days accounted for 12.1 percent

of all injuries.

• The most common activity at the time of injury during competition was general play (26.4 percent), followed by digging (19.9 percent), spiking (18.9 percent), blocking (18.8 percent) and passing (5.8 percent).

• The acute non-contact category was the most common mechanism (39.1 percent) for all injuries, followed by gradual/ overuse (17.1 percent) and contact with a teammate (14.0 percent).

• Injuries were evenly spread between warm-up (16.3 percent), set 1 (17.8 percent), set 2 (18.6 percent) and set 3 (15.8 percent) of competitions.

• The majority of practice- related injuries occurred

during team drills (60.0 percent), followed by individual drills (10.0 percent) and conditioning (6.4 percent).

• Surgery resulted from 2.6 percent of all injuries.

‡

Resources NCAA Sports Medicine Handbook. Available at www.NCAA.org.

NCAA Concussion Fact Sheets and Vid eo for Coaches and Student-Athletes. Available at www.NCAA.org/health-safety.

Injury Prevention Tips‡ For coaches:• All on-court personnel should review, practice, and follow their venue emergency plan and

be trained in administering first aid, AED use, and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).

• Athletes with a concussion must be removed from practice or competition, and should not return that day and not until given clearance by an approved medical provider according to the institution’s concussion management plan.

• Regarding concussions, if in doubt, sit them out.

• Gradually increase the frequency, intensity and duration of training to avoid overuse injuries.

• Balance cardiovascular, strength, flexibility and skills training.

• Be aware of potentially hazardous environmental conditions such as excessively hot indoor facilities with no air conditioning.

• Consider neuromuscular training programs to prevent common ankle and knee injuries.

For student-athletes:• Have a preseason physical examination and follow your doctor’s recommendations.

• Wear appropriate and properly fitted personal protective gear.

• Hydrate adequately — waiting until you are thirsty is too late to hydrate properly.

• Rest. Take some time away from training both during and between seasons to avoid overuse injury and burnout.

• Consider using external ankle support, such as a brace or taping, to prevent the ankle from rolling over, especially if you have had a prior sprain.

• After a period of inactivity, progress gradually back to volleyball through activities such as aerobic conditioning, strength training and agility training.

• Avoid overuse injuries — more is not always better! Listen to your body and decrease training time and intensity if pain or discomfort develops.

• Minimize the amount of jump training on hard surfaces.

• Participate in adequate and supervised rehabilitation for all injuries. Returning to a sport prematurely is associated with a high risk of re-injury.

• Speak with a sports medicine professional or athletic trainer if you have any concerns about injuries or volleyball injury prevention strategies.