Volleyball setter stats: rate the set, not the assist
The short answer
Good volleyball setter stats rate every set on its own, regardless of what the attacker does with it, for example from 0 (error) to 5 (perfect). That way you judge the ball your setter delivers, not the outcome. In Koach's Expert mode the Set step has six buttons for exactly that.
Volleyball setter stats are harder to get right than they look. Your setter touches the ball in almost every rally, yet barely shows up in the usual stats. A rating for every set fixes that, as long as you know what you are rating and how to discuss it without blaming your setter for what others do with the ball.
Why are assists a poor measure of your setter?
The best-known setter stat is the assist: a set from which an attacker scores straight away. The problem is in those last words, straight away. Whether an assist happens is decided by the attacker, not by the setter. A perfect set that your opposite hits into the block produces nothing. A set that is too low but that your outside still finishes with a clever tip does count. So after a night with lots of assists, what you mainly know is that your attackers hit well.
Koach counts assists automatically, in both Simple and Expert: if a player scores an attack point while the setter of that rotation is on court, that setter gets an assist. In a setter's player profile they are under Stats in the Setting distribution block, with the share of the attackers who scored most often. Handy for seeing who your team leans on, but it is still a count of the finisher. What else a setter does, and how to assign one in your lineup, is in the setter: role and assigning them.
Measuring set quality: a rating for every set
If you want to know how well your setter sets, rate the ball itself. Give every set a rating from 0 to 5 at the moment it leaves the setter's hands, before you see what the attacker does with it. The middle column shows the word under the button in Koach; the right column is a description you can agree on with your scout:
| Rating | In Koach | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | Error | Ball-handling fault, such as a double contact. The point goes to the opponent. |
| 1 | Poor | Can't be attacked; the attacker can only send the ball over. |
| 2 | Fair | Only a cautious attack is possible, for example a placed shot. |
| 3 | OK | Attackable, but the attacker has to adjust to the height or the distance. |
| 4 | Good | Easy to attack, with a small deviation. |
| 5 | Perfect | Exactly where and how the attacker wants it. |
Rate the set itself, not the decision. Whether the setter chose the right attacker is a second question; discuss that separately. And don't rate the pass before it: a set after a bad pass can get a 3 if it was an attackable ball. How to rate the pass is in the serve receive rating. How the set rating fits into your match stats as a whole is in understanding volleyball statistics.
How does the Set step work in Koach?
You give set ratings in Expert mode. You choose it on the start screen under Scoring, or mid-match via the menu at the top right. In Expert the app follows the rally step by step: after the reception comes the Set step, then Attack. How the whole mode works is in scouting your own team.
- Who sets? At the Set step the setter of this rotation is already selected; if you play a 4-2 or 6-2, that is the setter who is setting at that moment. If someone else sets, for example the libero after a bad pass, tap that player.
- The rating. Tap one of the six buttons: Error, Poor, Fair, OK, Good or Perfect. A 0 gives the opponent the point right away, and Koach records it as a double touch by the setter (in the stats after the match it is listed as Double contact). Ratings 1 to 5 don't change the score; the app moves on to the Attack step.
- Didn't see the set? Skip takes you to the attack without a rating, and Back undoes your last tap.
14 days free, no credit card. Have your assistant rate every set at the next match and go through it with your setter afterwards.
Try Koach with your teamWhat do you see after the match?
- Skill ratings. Under Stats each skill shows the count, a distribution bar from 0 to 5 and the average, so Set too. If the set is the weakest skill, the top reads Set was the weak spot. Under Per player, pick the Set chip; if several players set, you see them side by side.
- Distribution. In the Expert figures you see who the attacks went to after a good pass and after a bad pass, with the four attackers who got the ball most. At the top it says, for example, After a bad pass, …% of attacks went to a particular player. That shows you whether your setter always looks for the same attacker after a bad pass.
- Your setter's profile. Under Stats > Ratings 0-5 there is a Set row with the number of sets, the average and the share of ratings from 3 to 5. Under Per match you follow the trend with the Set chip. On the dashboard, All season insights > Team development with the Set chip shows the team average per match.
How do you discuss set ratings without blaming your setter?
A setter who sees their ratings quickly feels held responsible for everything that went wrong in the rally. These four agreements help:
- Put the pass next to it. Koach does not split the set rating by the quality of the pass. So look yourself at the reception average from the same match. A set average that drops in a match where the pass dropped too is a different story from a dropping set rating after good passes.
- Look at the spread, not just the average. A setter with lots of 3s and no 0s is reliable. A setter with lots of 5s and a few 0s takes risks. Those are two different conversations.
- Let them estimate first. After the match, ask how they would rate their own sets, and only then put the numbers next to that. Where the two differ is where the most learning is.
- Keep quality and choice apart. First the ball: could it be attacked? Then the choice: did they pick the attacker with the best chance at that moment? Mix those two up and you end up blaming a setter for the opponent's block.
Setters see their own ratings in their own profile, without the comparison with the team; only the coach sees that comparison. If you then want to train in a targeted way, look at how to train a setter and how to set a bad pass. Expert mode is included in both plans; the prices are on the pricing page.
Give the rating before the attacker hits. If you wait until the ball has landed, the outcome creeps in: a kill quickly turns a 3 into a 4. Tap the set as soon as it leaves the setter's hands, and only then rate the attack.
Frequently asked questions
What is an assist in volleyball?
An assist is a set from which an attacker scores a point straight away. Usually the setter gets it, but it can also be another player who plays the second ball. Koach counts assists automatically: if a player scores an attack point while the setter of that rotation is on court, that setter gets the assist. Because the attacker decides whether it becomes a point, the number of assists says little about the set itself.
What is a good set?
A good set is a ball the attacker can hit the way they want: at the right height, at the right distance from the net and in the spot they expect. On Koach's scale that is a 4 (Good) or a 5 (Perfect). A 3 (OK) can still be attacked, but the attacker has to adjust. Agree with your scout where you draw those lines, so the ratings stay comparable.
Who gets the set rating in a 4-2 or 6-2?
In Koach's Expert mode, the setter of the current rotation is already selected at the Set step. In a 4-2 or 6-2 that is the setter who is setting at that moment, so each setter gets their own ratings. If another player sets the ball, for example the libero, tap that player before you give the rating.
Does measuring set quality cost extra in Koach?
No. Expert mode, in which you rate every set, is included in both plans, Coach and Club. You can try Koach free for 14 days first, with every feature and no credit card. Your setter sees their own ratings with a free player account.
Give your setter a fair rating
14 days free, no credit card. After one Expert match you'll have something to discuss together.
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