Volleyball
Volleyball was invented in 1895 in Holyoke, Massachussetts by William Morgan. Originally called "Mintonette", he incorporated elements of basketball, badminton and handball into the new game. When an observer of the new game commented that the players on the court were "volleying" the ball the same way that tennis players do, the name of the game was changed to volleyball. Five years later, a new ball was designed specifically for the sport.
Since its start, volleyball has become one of the most popular sports in the world, second only to soccer in world wide participation. Introduced at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, volleyball has become even more popular as the USA Men's and Women's teams have brought home numerous medals. Beach Volleyball was introduced as an Olympic sport in 1995 and also has become a very popular event!
The Game...
"Volleyball is a team sport played by two teams on a playing court divided by a net. The object of the game is for each team to send the ball over the net to ground it on the opponent's court, and to prevent the ball from being grounded on its own court. The ball is put into play by the right back-row player who serves the ball by hitting it over the net to the opponent's court. A team is allowed to hit the ball three times (in addition to block contact) to return it to the opponent's court. A player is not allowed to hit the ball twice consecutively, except when attempting a block. The rally continues until the ball touches the floor, goes out of bounds, or a team fails to return it to the opponent's court or commits a fault." (Http://www.Volleyball.ORG)