William Morgan 1870 - 1942
From Mary Bellis & Scott Hammon,

William Morgan invented volleyball in 1895 at the Holyoke, Massachusetts, YMCA (Young Men's Christian Association) where he served as Director of Physical Education. Morgan originally called his new game of Volleyball, Mintonette. The name Volleyball came about after a demonstration game of the sport, when spectators commented that the game involved a lot of "volleying" and the game was later renamed “Volleyball”.

William Morgan was born in the state of New York and studied at Springfield College, Massachusetts. Ironically at Springfield, Morgan met James Naismith who invented basketball in 1891. Morgan was motivated by Naismith's game of basketball designed for younger students to invent a game suitable for the older members of the YMCA. William Morgan's basis for the new game of Volleyball was the then popular and similar German game of Faustball. Volleyball was first played with a tennis net raised to a height of 6 and 1/2 feet off the floor and combined many of the rules of baseball, tennis, handball and basketball.

Can you believe that during the birth of volleyball, the teams could have any number of players? Each game was played for nine endings. There was no limit to the number of hits on each side. There were quite a few crazy rules. This quickly changed as the sport gained in popularity. In 1890 the first ball designed for volleyball emerged and the net was raised a foot. In fact it was not until 1916 that through a series of rule changes, that a rule set that resembles today's emerged.

It was also in 1916 that we saw one of the most exciting aspects of the game emerge, the spike. The spike, or overhand attack, was developed in the Philippines and brought about a radical new change to the game, offense. The Philippines developed an offensive strategy that propelled a ball on a high trajectory (set) for which another player would jump and strike the ball down (spike).

Riding on this new offensive excitement, soon volleyball became popular and tournaments were organized in YMCAs around the United States. Volleyball spread around the world and eventually a world governing body, the Federation for International Volleyball (FIVB) was established in 1947.

Today Volleyball is the second most popular sport in the world (behind soccer). From its beginnings more than 110 years ago it has spread to every corner of the world and the number of players is nearing one billion. No one knows exactly why volleyball has such a huge following but one thing is for certain: since its early beginnings, volleyball has gone through some dramatic changes. Changes made for the love of the game and its expansion as a popular sport.

Volleyball is a sport in transition. With the increasing competition between sports for  television time, sponsorship money and expansion, millions of players, fans and coaches are each doing all they can for the love of the volleyball.

Beach Volleyball
From Dawn Henthorn,

Although beach volleyball was first played in the 1920s in the United States, it didn't become a competitive sport in California until 1947. Beach volleyball has grown today in popularity that rivals its indoor counterpart. The first world championships were held in 1976 and, while there has never been a successful professional indoor volleyball tour in the U.S., in 1983 the U.S. saw its first professional beach volleyball league, the Association of Volleyball Professionals. Beach volleyball gained its highest moment when it was added as an official sport in the 1996 Olympics.
 
Rules:
Beach volleyball follows the basic rules of indoor volleyball, except it is played on sand with two players on a side. Some versions use three, four, or six players on a team. The teams may be all male, all female, or coed (mixed). Rules vary slightly for each version.

Court:
The court is a rectangular area 59 feet (18 meters) long and 29-1/2 feet (9 meters) wide. A surrounding free zone must be a least 9 feet 10 inches (3 meters) wide.
The court boundary lines are usually marked by flat tape or ropes. Sometimes, the lines are drawn in the sand.

Net:
The net is about 8 feet (2.4 meters) high for men and slightly lower for women.

Ball:
The ball is similar to the one used in indoor volleyball (slightly heavier).

Game:
Games may last for 21 or 15 points. A match may consist of one game or go to the first team to win two games.