Two reads of the same results
Margin rating looks at the average point margin per set of every match, with every opponent's strength on the other side of the equation, so a three-point win over a top team is worth more than a 25-8 rout of a struggling one. Blowouts are capped so a single lopsided set can't move the table. Win rating ignores the score and only asks who won each set. FPI blends the two (65 / 35), then everything is centered so 0.0 is an average Utah team.
From rating to odds
The difference between two teams' FPI, plus a fitted home-court edge (about 1 point per set), gives the chance of winning a single set. Best-of-five math turns that into a match win probability and a likely set score. The link between rating gap and set wins is calibrated out of sample: the model is re-fit at a series of past dates and scored on the matches that followed, so early-season odds stay appropriately humble.
What it does not know
Injuries, lineup changes, a libero out for a tournament — none of that is in the data. Matches reported without set scores count toward the win rating only. Out-of-state opponents are rated so cross-border results count, but only Utah schools are ranked. Teams with only a handful of matches carry wider uncertainty than the single number suggests.
Built from publicly available scores and schedules for Utah high school girls volleyball, cross-checked across sources so missing set scores and unreported tournament matches still count. Ratings, probabilities and projections are Volleyball Pipeline's own calculations.