Today, I want to talk about something that’s been on my mind lately: how long these volleyball games actually last. I mean, I’ve watched a bunch of them, both live and on TV, but I never really kept track of the time. So, I decided to dig into it and find out for myself.
First, I started by watching some old recordings of professional volleyball matches. I grabbed a stopwatch and timed each match from the start of the warm-up to the final whistle. What I found was pretty interesting.
- Most of these pro matches went on for about 2 to 3 hours. This included everything, from the players getting warmed up to all the little rituals they do before the game, and of course, the game itself.
- Each set in these matches usually took around 25 to 30 minutes. But, you know, sometimes they went longer if the teams were really close.
Then, I thought, “Okay, that’s the pros, but what about regular college games?” So, I went to a few local college matches and did the same thing. I timed them.
- These college matches were a bit shorter, mostly around 90 minutes to 2 hours. They have breaks between sets and sometimes timeouts, which add to the total time.
- And you know, if the match was super competitive, with long sets, it could easily go over the 2-hour mark.
I also tried to time how long each little rally lasted. I counted only about 5 to 7 seconds on average from when the serve started to when the point was won.
Next, I looked into different formats of the game. Some games are “best of 3 sets,” while others are “best of 5.”
- For the “best of 3” games, they usually wrapped up in about 60 to 90 minutes.
- The “best of 5” ones, naturally, took longer, around 90 to 120 minutes.
I even watched some matches that ended really quickly, in just three sets, which took about an hour. But then, there were those intense five-setters that stretched beyond 90 minutes.
My Conclusion
So, what’s the bottom line? Well, there’s no fixed time for a volleyball game. It all depends. The skill level of the players matters – better players tend to have longer rallies. And whether you are watching a quick three-setter or a marathon five-setter also makes a big difference. But from what I’ve seen, you’re usually looking at somewhere between 1 to 3 hours for a game, start to finish. It is not like some other sports with a clock. When the game is done, it is done.
