Starts to serve and lob volley or volley (5)
I believe the answer is:
salvo
'volley' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'starts to serve and lob volley or' is the wordplay.
'starts to' indicates taking the first letters.
The initial letters of 'serve and lob volley or' is 'SALVO'.
(Other definitions for salvo that I've seen before include "Burst of rapid fire" , "Simultaneous burst of gunfire" , "Rounds delivered" , "Sudden round of applause" , "Discharge of gunfire" .)