Serving is a really important element of a volleyball game. If a player serves precisely and with enough power, his team can earn a point right away or the opposite team might have a big problem setting the ball.
A player who serves well is priceless for his team. In today’s post, we’re going to take a look at the fastest serves in volleyball of all time.
| Player | Speed |
|---|---|
| 1. Wilfredo Leon | 134 km/h (83.26 mph) |
| 2. Ivan Zaytsev | 134 km/h (83.26 mph) |
| 3. Matey Kaziyski | 132.9 km/h (82.58 mph) |
| 4. Ivan Zaytsev | 130.9 km/h (81.34 mph) |
| 5. Earvin N'Gapeth | 128.4 km/h (79.79 mph) |
1. Wilfredo Leon- 134 km/h (83.26 mph)
Wilfredo Leon is considered the best volleyball player in the world. He has great skills and one of his biggest strengths is his serving ability. He showed us not once, and not twice that his serves are really powerful and the enemies often have problems receiving them.
But Leon showed what he’s able to do during a league game Modena-Perugia. The Polish player served 134 km/h, equalling Ivan Zaytsev’s record. Leon admits that serves between 125-130 km/h is nothing extraordinary for him. The Polish outside hitter is probably the best server in the world. In his first season in the Italian league, he earned 133 points in 39 games directly serving. That means it’s the average of 3 aces per game. You can find more interesting volleyball statistics in this post.
2. Ivan Zaystev- 134 km/h (83.26 mph)
Ivan Zasytev has been one of the best volleyball players in the world. A couple of years ago, there wasn’t a better player than him. But time flies by, and he’s not that supreme anymore, but he’s still in the ranking of the best players that you can see here. However, his identification mark has always been his powerful serves.
The most memorable serve of his was in a game Italy-Serbia in 2018. In the third set, when Italy was on the best way to win the game, Zaystev served a ball with tremendous speed 134 km/h (83.26 mph). Serbian players didn’t have a chance to receive this missile. It was an official volleyball record back then.
3. Matey Kaziyski
This Bulgarian outside hitter is a big inspiration for every volleyball beginner. He’s 2.02 m (6 ft 8 in), but his biggest strength is his 390 cm (150 in) at the spike. Even the tallest volleyball player doesn’t spike that high. A full list of the tallest players is here. What we also remember him is his powerful serves.
In the fastest one, he served 132.9 km/h (82.58 mph). It was during the Italian Cup game Trentino Volley – Bre Banca Cuneo in 2010 (31.01). Back then it came out to be the world record. He held it for a couple of years. Some people question this record because he served with Molten ball. I think it doesn’t make any sense, and he showed a couple of times, he can easily serve up to 128 km/h (79.54 mph) even with Mikasa.
4. Ivan Zaystev– 130.9 km/h (81.34 mph)
Ivan Zaystev serves fast on a daily basis. That’s why he landed in this ranking once again.
Italian player served powerfully in the game against Argentina. In the second set, he served 130.9 km/h (81.34 mph), which is also considered in the top 5 fastest volleyball serves. What’s interesting, Zaystev currently holds the Olympic serving speed record, alongside Christian Savani and Gyorgy Grozer, at 127 km/h (78.9 mph).
5. Earvin N’Gapeth
N’Gapeth likes making himself conspicuous. He sometimes provokes his opponents, but he’s a really talented guy with huge skills, especially on a serve. He shows us regularly why should we be afraid of him, because even if his team doesn’t play well, he can spur it into action, by serving fast. He did it in a game France-Argentina.
His team was leading 17:12, and he decided to take a risk and serve as fast as possible. The radar showed 128.4 km/h (79.78 mph), which is one of the fastest serves in the history of volleyball. I also remember his fast serve on 126.1 km/h (78.35 mph) in a game with the USA. He rather serves fast when his team is leading. It’s the best time to take more risk.
Is jump serve the best to earn point?
As you probably know, there are 3 types of volleyball serves: the floater, the topspin and the jump serve. Men’s volleyball players usually don’t use the topspin type. Some of them use the floater and most of them serve jumping. Which technique is the most efficient one?
The jump serve is a really powerful kind of serve. It’s used mostly in men’s volleyball and all the players from the list above use this technique to serve fast. Because of speed, players on the other side of the court, often have problems with receiving the ball, because they don’t have a lot of time to react. But some teams like Russia are used to jump serves, and they receive it pretty well. On training, almost the whole team serves jumping, and they know how to receive it.
From my own experience, I know that the floater can be really, really beneficial. Some players like Mateusz Bieniek or Bruno Rezende are the masters of the floater because these serves are aimed well and aren’t comfortable to receive. Some teams have huge problems with floaters, so even though it’s not that fast, it can be sometimes more powerful than the jump serve.
When playing volleyball, I always mix the jump serve and the floater. My opponents don’t know which technique I will serve and I admit it works well. If you don’t play professionally, you can also use two techniques. If you’re more advanced, I’d advise you to master one technique and being the best at it.
What’s the average speed of a serve?
The speed depends on a couple of factors.
The most important one is the type of serve. Usually, the jump serves are the fastest. Volleyball players don’t serve 130 km/h on a daily basis. Usually, they serve between 90-110 km/h, because they don’t want to use too much energy. When it comes to the floater serve, it is slower in most cases. Players typically hit a ball with 40-70 km/h.
Men have usually more strength than women. That’s why they serve way faster. When it comes to the jump serve, men serve about 30% faster than women. The floater’s speed is similar.
The type of volleyball is also a factor. In indoor volleyball, serves are faster, because players have better control over the ball. In beach volleyball, there is sand everywhere, and jump serve is rather rare.
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