“It was easy to physically sacrifice myself, but mentally I was completely undisciplined,” Vegesena said. “My coaches cracked down on me hard. I think for liberos there’s a certain standard of dependability and mental toughness that’s expected.”

The mental toughness in discussion comes handy when on the court. With volleyball serves capable of travelling almost 100 miles per hour, liberos face the daunting task of reading the server and reacting to their serves in a split second.

“We’re trained to read bodies and angles from the backcourt,” Vegesena said. “But there are times when plays are too fast to read and your body just reacts. I’d say that’s my favorite part [of being a libero].

These nuanced challenges faced by the libero can be lost upon the crowd during matches. When all eyes are on the hitters who are scoring the points, it’s easy to overlook the foundation on which all offensive play is built—the libero.

On the court, however, it’s a different story.

“If the libero’s having an amazing day, it’s very noticeable to the players on the team,” Bain said. “It might not be noticeable to the crowd, but it’s definitely noticeable to us. Libero’s make all the difference to the rest of us.”