By Ryan Walker. Updated November 4, 2026: checked against the NCAA stats manual and FIVB rules, with corrected block-out and libero rules and pro efficiency targets.
14-14 in the fifth set of my high school state final. I saw the cross-court seam before I jumped, and the ball was on the floor before their back-row defender moved.
A kill is an attack that wins the point directly. It counts when the ball lands in, when a defender touches it but can’t keep it in play, when it goes off the block and out (a block-out, or “tool”), or when the blockers fault on your attack. A serve that scores is an ace, and a block that scores is a block, so neither one is a kill.
| What happened | Kill? | How it’s scored |
|---|---|---|
| Attack lands in, untouched | Yes | Kill for the hitter |
| Defender touches it, can’t keep it in play | Yes | Kill for the hitter |
| Off the block and out (block-out) | Yes | Kill for the hitter, no error on the blockers |
| Blocker touches the net on your attack | Yes | Kill for the hitter |
| Setter dump that scores | Yes | Kill for the setter |
| Tip or roll shot that drops | Yes | Kill, same as a hard swing |
| Serve that scores | No | Ace |
| Your attack gets stuffed back | No | Attack error for you, block for them |
The kill I still remember
We had been 12-14 down in that fifth set, two match points against us. Our setter had been feeding the middle all night, so their middle blocker was cheating inside on every pass. At 14-14 I got a high ball on the left. Their right-side blocker was alone, and their defenders were sitting deep, waiting for a hard line shot.
I didn’t hit it hard. I hit a sharp angle into the gap between their two back-row players, and it dropped for 15-14. We won the match 16-14 on the next rally. That swing taught me more than any drill: kills come from reading the defense. Power is just one of the tools.
What counts as a kill (and what doesn’t)
Stat crews follow the NCAA statistics manual in the US, and the rule is simple: if your attack ends the rally in your team’s favor, it’s a kill. A few cases confuse people.
- Block-out (tooling the block). You hit off the blocker’s hands and the ball goes out. That’s a kill for you, and the blockers are not charged with an error. The NCAA statistics manual credits the hitter with a kill and charges no blocking error (Section 1, A.R. 13; Section 5, A.R. 4).
- Blocker net fault. If a blocker touches the net while your attack is live, the point is yours and you get the kill.
- Free balls and overpasses. If a ball you send over on purpose scores directly, it’s credited as an attempt and a kill. Doesn’t matter that it wasn’t a swing.
- Setter dumps. A setter who tips the second ball over and scores gets a kill like anyone else.
- Aces and stuff blocks. Not kills. A serve that scores is an ace. If you get stuffed, that’s an attack error on you and a block for them.
More on the serving side in what is an ace, and the blocking side in what is a block.
Kill percentage vs. hitting efficiency
Kill percentage is kills divided by total attack attempts. Ten kills on 20 swings is 50%. It sounds great, until you look at errors.
Hitting efficiency (also called hitting percentage) is the number coaches actually use: (kills minus errors) divided by total attempts. Same hitter, 10 kills and 8 errors on 20 swings: (10 – 8) / 20 = .100. They score, but they give almost as many points back.
| Hitter A | Hitter B | Hitter C | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kills | 14 | 10 | 6 |
| Errors | 11 | 3 | 0 |
| Attempts | 30 | 25 | 15 |
| Kill % | 47% | 40% | 40% |
| Efficiency | .100 | .280 | .400 |
| Verdict | Liability | Weapon | The middle standard |
Want your own number? Put your kills, errors and attempts into the PlayingVolley hitting percentage calculator and it does the math, by position too. Hitter A has the most kills and is the worst hitter on the sheet. Hitter B is the one the setter trusts at 14-14 in a fifth set. Hitter C is what a good middle looks like: fewer swings, zero errors, quick sets the block never closed on.
Three ways to earn a kill
1. The power kill
Full approach, full arm swing, contact high above the net, ball in the floor before anyone reacts. It’s the shot every outside hitter builds around. The mistake is swinging at full power on a bad set. My sophomore year in college my efficiency fell to .190 because I tried to crush every ball no matter where the set was. Bad sets need a different shot, not more arm. I fix it with the approach progression in my beginner drill plan, and jump training raises your contact point.
2. The off-speed kill
Tips, roll shots and cut shots count exactly the same as a hammer. In the Great Lakes Regional my junior year of high school, their best blocker started reading me in set four. I went to the roll shot on the next three swings. Two of them died in the seam between their back-row defenders. He never adjusted.
3. The setter dump
On a perfect pass, a front-row setter can tip or push the second ball over while the defense waits for a set. It’s recorded as a kill and it’s the most deflating point an offense can score. Kills are about outcomes, not positions.
Using the block instead of fighting it
Beginners think a kill has to land untouched. Good hitters use the block. A 2025 study of the 2024 Women’s VNL found block-outs made up about 7.5% of spikes from the central zone, so even at the top level hitters are aiming at hands on purpose.
- High hands. Aim at the top of the blocker’s fingertips so the ball deflects up and out. It’s the safer option: if your aim is a bit off you’re still above the block, not into it.
- The wipe. Aim at the outside hand of the end blocker (the pinky side) and carry the ball sideways out of bounds. From zone 4 your approach angle helps. Higher reward, but if the blocker pulls their hands you’re looking at the antenna or a net touch.
Start with high hands. My coach in college used to say “if the block is there, it’s your teammate.” It took me two years to stop fighting blockers and start using them.
Where to aim
Read before you leave the ground: where the block is closing, and where the back-row defenders are standing. Then pick a zone, not a speed.
- Deep line to zone 1. A deep line shot into the back-right corner forces a low, wide dig that rarely turns into a clean pass.
- Deep cross-court to zone 5. Same idea on the other corner.
- The 5/6 seam. Back-row defenders are taught to stay in their lane. A roll shot or cut into the gap between zone 5 and zone 6 makes both of them hesitate for half a step, and that’s the kill. It doesn’t need pace.
Coach Ryan’s clipboard: when the pass is bad and the set is ten feet off the net, your job isn’t to kill the ball. It’s to keep the rally alive or tool the block. A safe shot to the deep corner that puts them out of system beats a hero swing into the antenna. I’ve watched teams lose fifth sets because their outside kept swinging out of control on bad sets.
Kills by position
- Outside hitters take the most swings and the most out-of-system sets, so their efficiency runs lower. A .250 outside carrying the offense is doing a great job.
- Opposites are the second main attacker and often get cleaner sets on the right side.
- Middles get fewer swings but quick sets, so their efficiency runs highest. In the 2025 LOVB season, Chiaka Ogbogu of LOVB Austin led the league with 53 blocks and added 103 kills at a .327 clip, fourth in kills among middles.
- Setters score on dumps. A setter who never dumps gets easy to read by set three.
- Liberos can’t complete an attack when the ball is entirely above the top of the net, from anywhere on the court (FIVB Rule 19.3.1.2), so a libero kill is almost unheard of. Defensive specialists aren’t under libero rules. They follow normal back-row rules and can attack from behind the 3-meter line like any back-row player. More on what a libero can and can’t do and how all six positions split the work.
Beating a triple block
Fast offenses score before the block can form. One tool is the bic: a quick, low set to a back-row attacker, usually the outside hitter coming from zone 6. When it’s on time the ball is past the block before the outside blockers can close. Quick middle attacks do the same thing up front. How often you get those looks depends on your system: whether you run a 5-1 with one setter or a 6-2 with two setters.
Facing a triple block that’s already set? Don’t swing into it. Change speed, roll it to the seam, or go off the hands.
Efficiency targets
These are coaching rules of thumb I use with my players, not official numbers. Rec leagues run lower because passing and set tempo are lower. For a sense of the pro end: in the 2025 LOVB season most middles hit between .280 and .380, and outsides between .200 and .310 depending on how much they passed.
| Level | Outside hitter | Middle |
|---|---|---|
| High school | .200 to .270 good, .280+ excellent | .280 to .320 good, .360+ excellent |
| College | .250 to .300 good, .330+ excellent | .320 to .370 good, .400+ excellent |
| Pro (LOVB, VNL) | .250 to .300 good, .310+ excellent | .320 to .380 good, .400+ excellent |
Kill in volleyball FAQs
A spike is the action: jumping and hitting the ball down over the net. A kill is the result: an attack that wins the point directly. Every kill is an attack, but most spikes are not kills.
Subtract errors from kills, then divide by total attack attempts. 12 kills, 4 errors and 30 attempts is (12 – 4) / 30 = .267. Kill percentage is just kills divided by attempts and ignores errors.
Yes. If your attack goes off the blocker’s hands and out, you get the kill and the blockers are not charged with an error (NCAA statistics manual, Section 5).
No. A block that scores is credited to the blocker as a block, and the attacker is charged with an attack error.
If a ball you send over on purpose scores directly, yes. It is credited as an attack attempt and a kill, even though it was not a swing.
Yes. A setter dump that the other team cannot play is recorded as a kill for the setter.
Almost never. Under FIVB Rule 19.3.1.2 a libero cannot complete an attack from anywhere on the court when the ball is entirely above the top of the net. A defensive specialist is different and can attack from behind the 3-meter line like any back-row player.
Three to five kills per set is a solid target, but track efficiency next to it. Fourteen kills with eleven errors is worse than ten kills with three.
Keep playing,
Ryan Walker
Sources
- NCAA Volleyball Statistics Manual: attack and block-out rulings
- FIVB Official Volleyball Rules 2025-2028: Rule 19.3.1.2 (libero)
- LOVB 2025 season awards
- Attack analysis of the 2024 Women’s VNL (Frontiers in Sports and Active Living)