Kills Per Set by position: what each level actually looks like
Athlete Quotient's D1 kills per set benchmark in women's volleyball runs from 2.217 for an outside hitter to 0.169 for a setter, because the position defines the job. The table below runs the full ladder - high school varsity to the elite D1 rung - for every position, with the men's sport-wide ladder beside it.
Kills Per Set benchmarks by position
| Position | D1 elite | D1 | D1 floor | D2 | D3 | HS varsity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Outside Hitter | 3.543 | 2.217 | - | 2.059 | 1.871 | 1.682 |
| Opposite Hitter | 3.111 | 1.877 | - | 1.812 | 1.536 | 1.260 |
| Middle Blocker | 2.230 | 1.450 | - | - | 1.365 | 1.281 |
| Setter | 0.819 | 0.169 | - | - | - | 0.101 |
Men's ladder
The men's kills per set ladder is published sport-wide rather than by position.
| Position | D1 elite | D1 | D1 floor | D2 | D3 | HS varsity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All positions | 3.207 | 1.426 | - | - | 1.328 | 1.231 |
See where your numbers actually land
A table tells you the bar. Your AQ Score tells you where you stand against it - all five dimensions, your gaps, and the level you actually fit, scored by the same engine these benchmarks come from. Your first score is free.
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Common questions
What is a good kills per set for a volleyball outside hitter?
Athlete Quotient's D1 benchmark for a volleyball outside hitter is 2.217. The D2 rung is 2.059, D3 is 1.871 and high school varsity is 1.682. The elite D1 rung is 3.543.
What is a good kills per set for a volleyball setter?
Athlete Quotient's D1 benchmark for a volleyball setter is 0.169. High school varsity is 0.101. The elite D1 rung is 0.819.
How to read these
Each column is a rung on the Athlete Quotient benchmark ladder - the bar the engine scores every athlete against - not a cutoff and not an entry price. Being under a rung does not close a door. It tells you the size of the gap, which is the only number you can actually train against.
These are Athlete Quotient's own benchmarks. Where a published college figure exists we use it; where none exists, the rung is ours. We would rather say that than claim a source we do not have.
These tables are the same ones the scoring engine uses, exported from it rather than retyped, so a page can never quietly disagree with a score. More: how AQ builds benchmarks.