Mikasa MVA200 Beijing Olympic Indoor Volleyball

Posted August 14
I own and play with one of these. I personally find it easier to see and to control for both passing and setting, compared to the Tachikara and other high-quality balls. It does play "dead" -- that's part of the control aspect; reflex digs are much less likely to fly completely out of play. The ball is indeed not universally liked by people that I play with. Most, if not all, of the complaints seem to come from female players who assert that the ball hurts their arms when passing.

Posted December 15
An acquired taste. I don't own one of these, but have played with them plenty at open gyms. Once they get broken in, they are not as hard as everyone says. The color takes some getting used to. I like the touch of the ball as far as setting goes. Be on your A game defensively if you're playing against heavy hitters though, or else you might get tattooed.

Posted October 01
Compared to the Tachikara SV-5W...the Mikasa is a harder ball. It is difficult to visually track the flight of the ball because of the spiral design. It plays "dead". It has minimal bounce. It takes much more effort to serve the ball and pass the ball because of its dead charastics. The Tachikara SV=5W is a much more "live" playing ball with higher bounce and softer shell. Our group of players preffer the Tahcikara with the colored panels for visibility not the white balls high schools use. I purchased the Mikasa thinking everyone would love playing with it because its new and different. They will not play with it due to it's hard shell and poor playability. Sincerely from: a player of AA volleyball for 30 years.

Posted December 11
I think it is a very nice ball!

Posted May 10
Very nice.