Effects of home advantage on set outcome and game actions performance in the Chinese Women’s Volleyball Association League

Abstract

ABSTRACT Home advantage in sport is a widely analyzed phenomenon with an unclear impact on volleyball. The aim of this study was to explore the influence of match location on the set outcome and technical performance indicators in the Chinese Women’;s Volleyball Association League. A total of 656 sets (181 matches) were observed during two consecutive seasons (2016-2018). The point and error performances in actions when teams played at home and away in terms of each set were analyzed. Comparisons were made using T test or Mann Whitney-U test, with the SMD at 95% of interval confidence. Also, a discriminant analysis was applied (p < .05). The results showed that the highest winning probability was in the fourth (59.5%), fifth (58.6%), and first (55.2%) set by home teams. Significant differences between teams were only found in spike error and block point (first set), spike point and serve error (second set), and serve-reception error (third set). Finally, only the points in terminal actions (serve, spike and block), as well as the serve error, lead to a discriminant function in the second set. These findings address coaches to develop proper strategies when they compete at home or away in a regular league.