Volleyball Rules

Last updated Feb. 6, 2010

Download the rules here.

Teams on the court/field must consist of at least 80% Asian players.
Ten players maximum per roster.

Decisions and responsibility:

Team Captains are responsible for signing and completing the Team Roster and Liability Waiver. These forms must be turned into the UT-VSA Volleyball Chair at beginning of your first game.
Team Captains must also sign off on the scorecard at the end of each match to verify the final score.
Management decision is final as issued by the committee and its authorized member.
Game decision is final as assessed by the referee.
During dead ball periods, the team captain may speak to the referee for explanation or interpretation of the rules.

Match composition:

Rally scoring will be used, meaning that the team that makes an error will lose a point and the other team will serve next.
Best two out of three games wins the match.
The first two games going to 25 (win by 2 and capped at 30), and the third game to 15 (win by 2 and capped at 17)
Brackets are based on double-elimination. All teams are guaranteed 2 games.
Playoffs are single-elimination and plays on Sunday.

Number of Players:

Matches are 6 vs. 6. There must be at least 3 females on the court.
Court positioning before every serve must alternate guy, girl, guy, girl, etc. If there are 4 females and 2 males, the 2 males can not be positioned next to each other.
Matches can start with a minimum of 2 players per team. Late arriving players can participate right away at the next dead ball.
If a team has less than 6 players and there are more male players than female players, its captain must ask the other team if they agree to play against those players or the extra male players have to sit out.
When a team has 5 players, the missing player is regarded as positioning in the “front” or “back”row, therefore there will be times when the formation is 2 front + 3 back or 3 front + 2 back.
When a team has 4 players, the formation is 2 front + 2 back.
When a team has 3 or 2 players, the server is the back row player.

Pre-game protocol:

Any team who is 10 minutes late will lose the first of the three games. After another 10 minutes has past, and the opposing team still does not show, the on-time arriving team will win by default.
Approximately 5 minutes are allowed for warm up activities, including passing the ball, setting & hitting at the net, and serving.
Before the scheduled match time, the referee will make the coin toss with the two captains. The winning captain of the toss will make the choice to either serve or the side of the court. If the choice is “serve”, the other captain will receive and will choose the side. If the choice is “receive”, the other captain will serve first and will choose the side. If the choice is the “side”, the other captain will take the other side of the court and will choose to either serve first or receive first.
If each team wins one game, the referee will make another coin toss before the third game. The captain (who did not make the call the first toss) will call this time.

The serve:

Server can serve the ball either overhand or underhand. The ball does not have to be tossed before the serve.
One re-serve is allowed per serve. The server can either let the bad tossed ball drop to the floor or catch the ball.
The receiving team will rotate to serve their first serve, except on their very first serve at the beginning of each match. (Starting Line-up)

Blocking and attacking the served ball:

It is illegal to block the served ball, it does not matter if the block is successful or not.
It is illegal to attack the served ball only if the attack is successful, meaning that the ball comes back to the serving side. If the attacked ball stays on the receiving side, two more hits are allowed.

Playing the ball:

Each team is allowed a maximum of three successive hits of the ball in order to return the ball to the opponent’s side.
A block (even with multiple contacts) is not counted as a hit. Team still has 3 hits remaining.
The ball may touch any part of the body.
Multiple contacts in a single attempt to hit the ball is allowed ONLY for the first hit of a team.

Co-ed restrictions:

When the ball is played more than once by a team, a female player must contact the ball.
There is no requirement for a male player to contact the ball, regardless of the number of hits by a team.

Substitutions:

Twelve substitutions are allowed per team per game.
There is no restriction on the number of individual substitute.
Substitutes must be for the same players’ positions.

Blocking:

When only one male player is in the “front” row at time of service, any other (only one at a time) male player in the “back” row may be in the “front zone” for the purpose of blocking. That male player cannot attack the ball when the bottom of the ball is completely above the top of the net.
A block is not counted as a contact, therefore three more hits are still allowed. Also it is legal for a male player to block a ball and then another male player to hit the ball back over the net to the other team.
Four legal actions in block the ball across the net above the opponent’s team area:

the block is made after the opponents have executed three contacts,
the block is made after the opponents have executed an attack-hit to send the ball over the net
the block is made after the opponent’s ball has broken the plane of the net,
the block is made if the opponents have hit the ball and it is falling near the net and no one on the opponent team is making a play at that ball.

Net faults:

It is a fault to touch any part of the net or the antennas, EXCEPT for incidental contact by a player’s loose hair and insignificant contact by a player not involved in the action of playing the ball.
If a player is involved in playing the ball, either offense or defense, that player is liable for net fault before, during, or after that playing action meaning that until the ball touches the floor or touches another player. Examples are such as following through after a spike or a block, coming down after an attack or a block, setting the ball when too close to the net, etc.
The net fault is only for the part of the net inside and including the two antennas. Touching the net outside of the antennas, or the ropes, or the wires, or the post, or the referee’s stand is not a net fault UNLESS the player uses the contact as a leverage or interferes with the play.

Center-line faults:

At least half of a player’s foot must cross the centerline in order to be called a fault.
There is no center-line fault outside the boundary of the court (poles holding the net).

Forfeiture:

Forfeiture is issued if a team refuses to play at the order of the referee.
If a team has only one player at scheduled match time, the forfeiture time is 10 minutes for the first game.

Time outs and interruptions:

Two 30-second time outs per game.
Three minutes between games.

Game courtesy:

If a player violates the game sportsmanship toward other players and the referee such as taunting, spiking the ball to the floor or at another player, disrespecting, verbal abusing, complaining, etc. that player will be penalized by either sitting out the rest of the game, sitting out the current game plus the next game, or even the next match depending on the seriousness of the violations.
Should a game be stopped at any point due to a violation of Dai Hoi The Thao rules on fighting or sportsmanship, it shall be considered a forfeit. Any team forfeiting a game automatically is banded from going to the playoffs.

Courts:

Standard size of 30 feet by 60 feet divided by a net.
The boundary lines are good, meaning the ball is “in” if the ball hits the line.
The antennae (within the net and extending above the net to the ceiling) are out of bound.
The “attack line” is also called the “10-foot line”.
The “front zone” is limited by the axis of the center line and the attack line.
The “back zone” is limited by the back of the attack line and the outside of the back line.
The “service zone” is the whole area behind the end line limited by the sideline extended. The servers can start outside of the sideline but they must be completely inside the sidelines when contacting the ball.

Net height:

Net heights for co-ed volleyball are:

7’ 8”