Volleyball was originally called “mintonette” by its inventor, William G. Morgan, because of its resemblance to the sport of badminton. However, a professor from Springfield College in Massachusetts noted the volleying nature of play and proposed the name “volleyball,” which stuck. The term was spelled volley ball in the first edition of the Official Handbook of the Athletic League of the Young Men’s Christian Associations of North America (1897), which established the initial rules of the sport. Later the spelling changed to volleyball.
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