Team Statistics for Division I Women’s Volleyball
Motivation
Division 1 NCAA women’s volleyball is the highest level of collegiate competition for women’s volleyball in the United States. With well over 300 teams compete at the Division 1 level, there is fierce competition each year as only 64 teams make the post-season Volleyball Championship. The division demands high-level athletic performances, teamwork, and strategic game play from a variety of aspects. With each team having their own strengths and weaknesses, there is no exception of exciting matchups and and shocking results.
In volleyball, a kill is awarded to a player any time their attack is unreturnable by the opposition because it is the direct cause of the opponent not returning the ball. An assist is awarded when a set, pass, or dig to a teammate results in that teammate attacking the ball for a kill.
Data
The data set contains 334 rows and 14 columns. Each row represents a team at the NCAA Division 1 level from the 2022-2023 season.
| Variable | Description |
|---|---|
| Team | college of the volleyball team |
| Conference | conference to which the team belongs |
| region | region to which the team belongs |
| aces_per_set | the average amount of balls served that directly lead to a point not including errors by the opponent per set |
| assists_per_set | the average amount of sets, passes, or digs to a teammate that directly result in a kill per set |
| team_attacks_per_set | the average amount of times the ball is sent to the other team’s court per set |
| blocks_per_set | the average amount of times the ball is blocked from being hit on to the teams side per set |
| digs_per_set | average amount of times the ball is passed by a player successfully after an opponents attack per set |
| hitting_pctg | total team kills minus team hitting errors all divided by total attempts |
| kills_per_set | average amount of hits that directly result in a point per set |
| opp_hitting_pctg | the average hitting percentage of the teams opponent per set |
| W | the amount of team wins for the season |
| L | the amount of team losses for the season |
| win_loss_pctg | the amount of total wins divided by the total matches of the season |
Questions
What variables are most highly correlated with win/loss percentage of a team?
How are assists and kills related?
What model is best for predicting win/loss percentage?
References
NCAA - Women’s Volleyball