Hi Jason.

First thing I do is put my S at I the OH and II and V, RS at IV and MB III and VI.

I then tend to rotate the players so that my worst server is at VI (allowing for L serving for a MB) and if possible my second worst at V. You want your best servers serving first but it often ends a set on III or IV so I don't worry too much if my better serving RS serves after my S for instance. But if my reserve OH is the poorest server by quite a bit then I will often play him at VI and maybe have MBs at II and V.

I don't overly worry about playing S at I to avoid setter dumps unless it's Kurry who is a poor attacker. I think Lam as served at every position this season, mostly at I as he's now a good server anyway.

It's also worth looking at the blockers, placing the better ones at II, III and IV if it doesn't affect serve order badly. Most points are won when you are receiving so you want to increase winning points on serve and your chances of early blocks, so having a good server, hoping for a poor pass gives you more chance of a block and keeping your serve.

Thank you Steve! That's very helpful!

i am now quickly going to have a look at my orders again for this session. still have a few minutes left!

I have been doing it all wrong!

I was under the impression the order didn't impact any of the statistical outcomes apart from serve order.

Condsider two MB with very similar SRV (within 1 of each other) but one weaker one has  BLK 2 or 3 better than the other. If you put your better blocker at IV then he'll be at the net for the first three rotations and hopefully get more 2 or 3 blocks to compensate for the weaker server 

I was just about to ask you Steve why you were playing your better MB at VI, makes sense

Which game, Roy? If you're looking at the summary its misleading as it always lists the players in a dedault order and in my game against Dallas I played a MB at II.

So all of the stats under "support" should read "worst player currently in the front OR back row?"

Sorry John I don't follow you 

Steve, thank you again. Your example about the two MBs puts the issue into the context of the mechanics of a real volleyball match, which really helps me wrap my head around it. Having played high school volleyball, I'm a bit embarrassed I didn't pick up on it before, but live and learn.

I will second most of Steve's comments. That's essentially the lineup I use. Very occaisonally, if i'm playing newer/less skilled players, and I want to start with good blocking, I might put my setter at VI to start, but I can't remember the last time I did that.

Steve, the wording in the Support pages seems to imply the positioning of the players isn't taken into consideration by the simulator. Is this true?

If you mean for receiving and whether it's the best, middle or worst one that plays the ball then you are correct.

It also doesn't matter where the setter is as far as getting the pass from the receiver is concerned.

However the position of the setter does matter on who he sets as does the positions of the attackers.

Thinking about it some more it does matter a little where your receivers are. With decent opposition servers your weakest receiver will do most of the work. A decent server vs a weak receiver will lead to more poor passes which will more likely not find the Setter. 

If your weak OH receiver is at the net along with your Setter and the pass goes to the Libero or other OH then there's a big chance of the Set going back to the OH with a poor Set rating. However if the good attacking RS is at the net then there's a better chance of RS being set. 

So relative positions of the receivers do matter to a certain extent. I'm not sure it's more important than Serve order however.

We all question our life decisions.....