It sounds like a wild animal found on an African safari or perhaps a new dance or maybe even an astrological sign. Forget those notions when you hear the word libero. The only place to find a libero is on the volleyball court. It's a term that confuses many casual fans, but has become a crucial position in girls' high school volleyball.

The libero (pronounced lee-bah-ro) is like the quarterback of a team's back row and coordinator of its defense. The origin of the word is Italian, meaning free. A team's best defensive player is designated libero, but teams can choose to play with or without one. "Even though it's a defensive position, [the libero] has made offenses more effective in the sense that you have a passing specialist that can get the ball to your setter under any circumstances," Jupiter coach Blaine Betz said.

It's a position ruled by special guidelines: Substitutions are unlimited and not counted toward a team's allotment of 18 per game; a libero cannot attack above the plane of the net, cannot rotate to the front row and cannot block at the net.

It's easy to spot the libero because that player wears a different color jersey than the rest of her team. The color contrast helps officials during substitutions and to watch for illegal hits. "I always have people in the stands yelling, 'Hey, No. 12, you're wearing the wrong jersey,'" Jupiter libero Jessica Arcia said.

Changing the game The libero was introduced at the men's international level in the late 1980s and early '90s. In 2000, it trickled down to NCAA Division I men's volleyball and to women's volleyball in 2002. Two years later, Florida added the position at the high school level. "Florida was on the cutting edge of the libero position," St. Thomas coach Lisa Zielinski said. "It was really exciting that [Florida] added it so soon after colleges did."

In its fifth season, the position has become a must for the majority of teams in Broward and Palm Beach counties. "Games used to be controlled at the net, but it's not just an offensive show anymore," Benjamin coach Gary Slade said.

"You value the position if you have the right player." Special personality Cypress Bay coach Barry Sikorski thinks the best libero is one that treats the position more like a mind set. He compares it to former NBA player Dennis Rodman, who dedicated his play to rebounding, saying a libero has the attitude that nothing will hit the floor.

"We are supposed to get the ball every time. We're out there for a reason," Spanish River libero Casey Gnann said. "We have the authority to run the back row like the setter runs the front row. If you don't want the ball, you shouldn't be in that position."

Like most sports, spectators tend to focus on offensive statistics. A libero rarely gets the attention that hitters and setters receive; the position is much like the offensive line in football. Both make the offense go, but their contributions rarely show up in a game story.

A good libero such as Royal Palm Beach's Morgan Hill says it's enough to know her effort is critical to the team's success. Hill knows if she has an off night, the rest of her team probably will as well. "Without the libero, energy can fade," Douglas libero Stephanie Smith said. "The libero has to be spunky. You can't get down and always have to pick your team up."

Always watching Coaches don't usually encourage their players to "watch" the other team instead of play, but the libero is a different story. While the opposing team is hitting during warmups, a libero is usually watching the tendencies of hitters. "You have to learn how to read shoulders to see if it's line hit or cross court hit or if it's going to be a tip," Cypress Bay libero Maria Baquerizo said.

Hill added that a libero has to pay special attention to arm angles and holes in blocking schemes. Gnann said technically sound hitters are actually easier to dig than sloppy players because they always "show" where they're going to hit the ball. "We can control how the game goes," Arcia said.

Stacy Hicklin can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it