In volleyball, a setter is the play-maker in the court, having the role of determining the offensive pattern and setting the ball in a combination attack in order to take the offensive in an advantageous situation. However, in volleyball matches in Japan, the situation is often observed where setting the ball does not seem to conform the objectives for the combination attack. This study, therefore, aims at presenting a valuation basis in order to evaluate setter's performance at the combination attack as a group tactics from the view point of ‘preparing an advantageous situation for the offensive’. In the volleyball matches between colleges on the top level in Japan, we classified typical combination attacks following the serve reception into 5 groups according to the shape of the hitter's approach and made the concrete objectives of each combination attack clear from the view point of ‘preparing an advantageous situation for the offensive’. Based on this, we theoretically derived the basis for the success in combination attacks, and presented a valuation basis for the evaluation of setter's performance.

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