one player always wears a different colored jersey....why is that & what do they do different? Why do they need a different jersey?

It's called the libero. In layman's terms, it's because they have different substitution rules than the rest of the players (come and go more freely, without counting against substitutions). They can only replace a back row player, and the player that they replaced can only come back in to the libero's position.

Libero can't start, but you can switch your libero every set.

They're basically a designated defensive player. The libero must start in the back row, cannot hit the ball at any point above the net, cannot block or attempt to block, and cannot perform an overhead set from in front of the attack line (that line a couple feet from the net).

It can get a lot more technical than that, but I think that's about all the casual volleyball fan needs to know about it. Someone correct me if I missed anything/got anything wrong.

thanks, the no blocking/spiking aspect makes sense. Seems like the libero? always is short!

Would it be a libera for a girl?

Haha surprisingly no. Always libero.

Yep, they're usually short. My theory is that they may/may not have been a libero at the highschool level, but they had a good defensive skill set, and it's difficult to play any other position at a high-level D-1 school if you're much under 5'9, so they end up becoming liberos.

A few years ago, we had a libero for one season (or part of the season) who was over 6'....gosh...can't remember her name off hand. She was a middle or right side. I think she was a walkon at first, but hard worker and smart in the class room. i can see her face, but can't think of her name. Rebecca Wynalda? The good thing about a bigger girl is that she will have a bigger wing span and possibly cover more court, but its hard to find big girls who are quick and get their hips to/behind the ball. outside hitters can often convert to liberos because they are more likely to be an all-around player.

And of course Stacy Sykora went from being a standout offensive player at TAMU to libero for the Olympic team because she didn't have the height for that level of play, but she had the quickness.

Best in the World!

The libero position actually hadn't been created when Sykora played in college. I think it was a year or two after she graduated that they came up with it and Coach Corbelli encouraged her to try out for it with the National team.

You're right drumbeat - Libero was introduced in 1998 at the International level, but the libero didn't start in college until 2002. I think Stacey's last season was 1998?