Background Participation in women's sports has increased over the years, potentially leading to an increased exposure rate for injury. Identifying the prevalence and severity of specific injuries associated with volleyball can lead to effective injury prevention interventions and educational programs.

Objective To analyze injury trends associated with women's volleyball for grade 9–12.

Design A retrospective analysis of medical records collected by certified athletic trainers at 10 high schools was performed over a three year period from 2006–2009.

Setting Data was collected via web based software in the USA for volleyball athletes in grades 9–12.

Participants Participants included female volleyball players in grades 9–12 who participated in a sanctioned high school volleyball athletic season.

Intervention Injury definitions were standardized prior to the medical documentation, and were limited to self-reporting by the athletes or direct observation by the athletic trainer. Injury is defined by something that results from participation in competition or practice, requires medical attention and results in restriction and or modification in participation for one or more days beyond the day of injury.

Main outcome measurements Measurements were recorded based upon each exposure, defined as a single practice or game session per player.

Results A total of 30 366 exposures were recorded, with just 31documented injuries. 35.5% of the documented injuries involved the ankles followed by knees and thumbs with 13%. 66.67% of injuries occurred during non-contact skills practices, 24% occurred to middle blockers, 19% occurred due to jumping and landing and 26% occurred toward the end of practice. For every 1000 exposures, 0.964 injuries occurred during a practice session and 0.698 injuries occurred during a match.

Conclusions Volleyball injuries in females in grades 9–12 appear low overall in prevalence and severity. Future studies for volleyball participation are encouraged to assess different age groups, gender, and other variables.