Background: Jumping ability is central to volleyball success, influencing spiking, blocking and setting. Plyometric training (PT) is widely used to improve jump performance, but it is unclear whether male and female athletes adapt to the same degree.

Objective: To compare changes in jump performance between male and female inter-collegiate volleyball players following an 8-week plyometric training programme.

Methods: A pre-test/post-test quasi-experimental design was used with 20 male and 20 female inter-collegiate volleyball players. Participants completed a progressive 8-week plyometric programme (two sessions per week) in addition to regular volleyball practice. Countermovement jump (CMJ), squat jump (SJ), drop-jump reactive strength index (RSI) and spike-approach jump were measured before and after training. A 2 (sex) × 2 (time) mixed-design ANOVA tested the sex × time interaction, and effect sizes were reported as partial eta squared and Hedges' g.

Results: Both sexes improved significantly in all four jump tests (all within-group p < 0.001, Hedges' g = 0.40–0.66). Percentage gains were similar in males and females (CMJ +8.1% vs +8.7%; SJ +6.5% vs +7.8%; RSI +9.0% vs +10.1%; spike jump +5.9% vs +5.7%). No sex × time interaction reached significance (all p > 0.05; partial eta squared 0.003–0.075).

Conclusion: An 8-week plyometric programme improved jump performance in both sexes with no evidence of a sex difference in the relative response, suggesting the same progression can be applied to mixed-sex squads.