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In a volleyball league system, 3-0 and 3-1 win gives 3 points, 3-2 win gives 2 points, 2-3 loss gives 1 point, and 1-3 and 0-3 loss gives 0 point.

I thought this system is very strange because winning by 3-2 does not give full three points. This makes the standings table quite strange. For example, the Italian league as of January 24, 2023 looks like this:

Rank Team Points W L Sets W Sets L Sets Ratio
1 Sir Safety Susa Perugia 48 16 0 48 8 6.000
2 Itas Trentino 29 9 7 37 26 1.423
3 Valsa Group Modena 29 9 7 34 26 1.308
4 Cucine Lube Civitanova 26 9 7 32 27 1.185
5 Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza 25 8 8 33 30 1.100
6 Vero Volley Monza 24 8 8 28 31 0.903
7 Allianz Milano 23 8 8 29 32 0.906
8 Top Volley Cisterna 23 7 9 31 33 0.939
9 WithU Verona 22 8 8 29 31 0.935
10 Pallavolo Padova 14 6 10 22 38 0.579
11 Gioiella Prisma Taranto 13 4 12 20 39 0.513
12 Emma Villas Aubay Siena 12 4 12 17 40 0.425

The 9th ranked team (Verona) has a win-loss record of 8-8, but the 8th ranked team (Milano) has 7-9 which does not seem logical.

Is there a history or rationale for this unique ranking system?

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I'm not sure I'd call this really "unique"; plenty of sports around the world use a scheme where a comprehensive victory is worth more than a close victory, or that a close loss is worth more than a comprehensive loss. Some examples:

  • In the NHL, a win in regulation gives the winner 2 points and the loser 0 points. A win in overtime or a penalty shoot-out gives the winner 2 points and the loser 1 point.
  • Most rugby union competitions around the world use the "bonus points" scheme where a win is worth 4 points, but then bonus points are available for scoring 4 or more tries or for losing by 7 points or fewer.
  • The English cricket county championship has for many, many years used a bonus points scheme were teams are given points based on their first innings performance (both batting and bowling).

All these can produce situations similar to the one you have highlighted where a team with fewer wins is higher in the standings than one with more wins.

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  • It makes sense if you consider a close result as being a tie that forces an overtime. That's literally true in the NHL, where prior to ties being eliminated both teams received a point for a tie; now, the final winner gets an additional point for (eventually) winning. The volleyball system in the question seems similar: either team can earn a point for winning 2 sets, the winner of the match gets 1 point, and the match winner gets a bonus point for holding the lower to fewer than 2 sets.
    – chepner
    Commented Jan 25, 2023 at 19:18
  • Absolutely; the 5th set in volleyball is very much a "tie break" in that it's played to 15 points rather than 25 and the teams switch ends half-way through.
    – Philip Kendall ♦
    Commented Jan 25, 2023 at 19:48
  • Seems like this would reward stronger teams who play weaker opponents and can more easily beat them over teams that play a more closely matched opponent and will have a closer match.
    – Joe W
    Commented Feb 1, 2023 at 0:14
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    @JoeW Sure - but at least in the SuperLega case, they play full home-and-away round robin so it averages out.
    – Philip Kendall ♦
    Commented Feb 1, 2023 at 8:54
  • That is good to know
    – Joe W
    Commented Feb 1, 2023 at 13:49

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