To the purpose of investigating the changes effected on the game of volleyball by the enforcement of the new scoring rules we recorded the duration of each set, the match duration (MD) and the total match duration (TMD) of the games of the A1 and A2 categories of men and women for the 1997-1998 period in Greece, when the matches were played according to the old rules and the 1998-1999 period in Greece and Cyprus, after the enforcement of the new regulations. The reduction of the mean set duration and consequently of the mean game duration as well the reduction of the variability of the respective times was reasonably evident. This was followed by a greater percentage of games finishing with a score of 3-2. Countries with a marked difference of level exhibited different time characteristics. However the variability owed to the randomness of the set aggregate can only be eliminated by the specification of the number of sets played per game, while the variability of the set duration can be extinguished only by reverting the set to a fixed time duration. This will lead to volleyball games, which are both entertaining and fascinating to watch both on the court and on the TV.     Keywords: Volleyball, match duration, set duration.

This article focused on the investigation of the time characteristics of individual sets of volleyball matches in relation to their order in the match, the total number of sets in the game, the category of the teams and the sex of the players in two consecutive years, before and after the enforcement of the new regulations. All the matches from the corresponding leagues in Greece for 1997-1998 and 1998-1999 were taken into consideration giving a total of 1016 games. Besides the obvious conclusion that sets from games with a 3-0 final score are smaller in duration than sets form games with a 3-1 or 3-2 final score, it seems that the professionalism of the teams playing a volleyball match bears a strong relevance to set duration characteristics and interdependencies. Professional teams are able to display a more consistent performance throughout all the sets of the game. Based on the present inferences, as well as taking into consideration the requirements of a more rigorous presence of volleyball in the TV, where the time fluctuations of the duration of a volleyball match should be eliminated, it is proposed that the game of volleyball should be played with a fixed number of sets and that this number should be equal to four.  Keywords: Volleyball, match duration, set duration.