Meaning

noun a game in which two teams hit an inflated ball over a high net using their hands

noun an inflated ball used in playing volleyball

originFrom volley + ball. In 1895, in Holyoke, Massachusetts, William G. Morgan created a new game called Mintonette, a name derived from the game of badminton. After an observer, Alfred Halstead, noticed the volleying nature of the game at its first exhibition match in 1896, played at the International YMCA Training School (now called Springfield College), the game quickly became known as volleyball…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0