Getting hit by a volleyball

IMO that would be quite a serve. I've seen it happen with balls spiked over the net (and not just in the Ben Stiller movie).

I had a soccer ball kicked square in my face and I ended up with a bloody nose (of course, after it hit my face, the ball dropped to the ground and the person kicked it a second time square into my face, the ball dropped to the ground and the person kicked it a third time but lucky for me that time it only hit me in the chest).

I've been hit pretty good in the face with a basketball which was being passed to me (look how good a player *I* am...) and I got neither bloody nose, nor black eye. I got thoroughly stunned for a minute, though, and my face definitely hurt. For whatever that's worth...

I think it would have to hit the nose square on, but it could happen if it was a powerful enough serve. I nearly got hit when I played volleyball, but I put my fingers up to deflect the hit.. and wound up spraining my finger. End of season.

I also received a soccer ball in the face, but it hit my eye -- or rather my glasses, creating a lovely raccoon look for a week or so....

Could the be hit and knocked over, causing the bloody nose that way?

Michelle

I don't think you could get a black eye from a vollyball unless you character has some sort of glasses on. For a black eye you need less surface area because the eyes are set back more in your face. A bloody nose though is something that seems verry logical. I know you can get one from hitting your nose on someone elses head. *I was drunk and couldn't tell distance at the time*

I believe you'll get two black eyes if your nose is broken. I'm going to google this now...

Yup: this is what Broken Nose Symptoms in Emedicinehealth says:
Signs that suggest a person has a broken nose may include the following: Tenderness when touching the nose, Swelling of the nose or face, Bruising of the nose or under the eyes (black eye), Deformity of the nose (crooked nose), Nosebleed, When touching the nose, a crunching or crackling sound or sensation like that of rubbing hair between 2 fingers, Pain and difficulty breathing out of the nostrils.

Another site says "black eyes on both sides".

The words I used to google were: black eyes broken nose

I could see a nose bleed (some kids get nose bleeds easily anyway). A black eye would be a little more questionable. Also, maybe a nice red welt on the side of the face.

I broke my nose when I was eight (not by being hit by a volleyball - I just fell over), and I ended up with two black eyes. And a swollen up nose. Not very pretty, let me tell you.

A spike, yeah; a serve, no. A serve is done from the back line of the court and needs to travel beyond the opponent's mid-court line without hitting the floor. There's too much distance involved. The receiver would not be surprised by the ball.

Rich has a good point. I missed that. Yeah, a serve isn't going to do it. Have the other girl spike the ball to the MC. Maybe the other girl could be head taller; which would make the "attack" even more vicious.

I played volleyball in high school and I have to agree with some of the other comments...it would be very difficult to hit someone in the face with a serve. A spike would be much more true to life.

I've been smacked in the chops with a hockey stick. My teeth rattled for a week.

It contributes nothing to this thread but might give you a giggle.

Perhaps "killer serve"

kimmi 57 said:

Perhaps "killer serve"

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Watching the indoor Olympic volleyball games, I saw some fast and hard serves....but how many highschoolers are capable of that extreme type of serve? (If I remember correctly, most serves in my high school were done underhanded and only about half the people could consistently get it over the net). I suppose if the story is written in such a way where the server has that kind of 'killer serve', maybe....but I would tend to think a vicious spike straight into the face would be more realistic.

Just my .02

scarletpeaches said:

I've been smacked in the chops with a hockey stick. My teeth rattled for a week.

It contributes nothing to this thread but might give you a giggle.

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I had someone break their hockey stick across my shins while playing floor hockey....

By the way, since my best friend's daughter was a high school volleyball star (Tennessee state champs one year), this is okay since you said it was gym class. If it was an actual HS volleyball team it would be hard to sneak up and do this. Those girls play tough anyway and they take it VERY seriously.

Southern_girl29 said:

Thanks everyone. I think the scene will work better with a spike instead of a serve. I'll have to rewrite it tonight, but it won't take long at all. Thanks again.

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With a spike you can have the girls physically standing close to each other too - definitely within speaking (vs shouting) distance.

Ask your best friend, alleycat. It's an easy cheap shot.

Volleyball

Southern_girl29 said:

In my WIP, my character is playing volleyball in gym class. The girl doing the serving wants to get her back because of a comment the MC made. She serves the ball directly at my MC, and it hits the character square in the face. Would this make her nose bleed? Could it cause black eyes, too? Thanks in advance.

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This isn't likely to happen on a serve. The server is too far back, and there's too much time to react.

But, yes, it can make your nose bleed. It can even break your nose, and sometimes a broken nose results in black eyes.

My husband coached my 6th grade daughter's team last fall, the overhand serves they're teaching now could definitely have enough force to blacken an eye/nosebleed depending on how skilled the player is (i.e. if she misjudged hitting the ball back - receiver/how powerful her serve is - server). As for spikes -- hoo boy, those older girls were out for blood...

Okay, I'm giving up here.

Being smacked on the nose will do one thing for sure.

It'll make you cry.

I don't mean get all upset and weepy cry, it'll cause an involuntary tear duct reaction.

I have seen big bruisers get a football (English) in the face. No bloody or broken noses, but the tears come.

I don't think it would work, SouthernGirl, because 1) a vollyeball serve is too far back like Jamesaritchie pointed out, and 2) it would have to be launched pretty forcibly into the nose to make a serious dent like what you're talking about.

When I was in High School, I was picked on a lot by other students, and I believe some three times at one school I got hit in the face very hard by a basketball. I did not see it coming until someone said, "Hey Sean!" and I turned around just as the ball hit me in the nose. All it did was stun me and knock my glasses off. It never gave me a nose bleed or a black eye.

Now, I have also been hit in the face by a baseball, as it rolled along the ground and bounced up into my face when I tried to catch it. That did injur me slightly, as the ball was rolling rather slowly. Maybe you could use something like a baseball or something similar, as even a slow ball can hit like a missile, causing quite a bit of damage, especially if aimed at the face.

In high school gym class, I was hit in the head once by a basketball and once by a volleyball. Both times, I never saw it coming. I had a horrendous headache all day after both of them and went to see the school nurse to make sure I didn't have a concussion.

The volleyball incident was after a play. I was looking the wrong way and got hit in the back of the head. The basketball incident I'm 99% sure was intentional, but I never saw who threw it so I didn't have proof. Again, it was after the game. Three girls who I knew didn't like me were in the direction of where the ball came from, and all three were laughing.

If someone's out to get your character on the gym floor, there are a lot of ways to do it which can't be directly traced to a specific culprit.