Hey kids. Today’s word is libero. Can you say libero? I know you can. Let’s break it down.

Lee. (Think General Robert Lee.)

Brrr. (You know, that sound you make when you're cold.)

Row. (That motion you might make in a boat.)

Lee-brrr-row.

All right now you say it.

It's pronounce lee-burr-o, but Carolina volleyball coach Joe Sagula says there's more than one pronunciation.

"La-bear-o or lee-burr-o," Sagula says. "You can say it either way."

I say lee-burr-o, you say la-bear-o. But what does it mean?

The libero is a designated defensive specialist on a volleyball team who can go in and out of the game without counting against the team’s substitutions.

Liberos wear a different colored shirt than the rest of their teammates because there are rules that limit what they can do.

"They don’t get to serve," Sagula says. "So that’s the one downfall of it." "But they get to be on the back row and play all six rotations, so you can be really consistent about your defensive play that way."

Liberos don’t get to spike either.

Which raises the question: Is libero Spanish for can’t serve or spike?

Carolina outside hitter, Laura Greene isn't sure.

"I don’t know," Greene says. "Let’s say why not. Sure."

"I believe it is Spanish," says outside hitter/setter Malaika Underwood. "But I don’t know what it means."

But coach Sagula says that's not exactly it.

"No, that would be great," Sagula says. "But it's for free player, it means it doesn’t count for subbing."

Caroline deRoeck is UNC's libero. And although her play is limited, she still has a big impact on the game.

Greene says deRoeck is all over the court.

"She’s that constant presence that’s always going after balls and making that little extra effort to get it up when we pass the ball into the bleachers."

But can deRoeck spell libero?

"L, i, b, e, r, o," deRoeck says. "I think."

I think we’ve all learned something here.

Very good boys and girls.

The libero and the rest of the team are in action at home on Friday against Marquette.