VOLLEYBALL - is a sport played by two teams on a playing court divided by a net.

There are
different versions available for specific circumstances in order to offer the versatility of the
game to everyone. The object of the game is to send the ball over the net in order to ground it
on the opponent’s court, and to prevent the same effort by the opponent. The team has three
hits for returning the ball (in addition to the block contact). The ball is put in play with a service:
hit by the server over the net to the opponents. The rally continues until the ball is grounded on
the playing court, goes “out” or a team fails to return it properly. In Volleyball, the team
winning a rally scores a point (Rally Point System). When the receiving team wins a rally, it gains
a point and the right to serve, and its players rotate one position clockwise.
(fivb.org/EN/Refereeing-Rules/documents/FIVB-Volleyball_Rules_2017-2020-EN-v06.pdf)

HISTORY
Volleyball was invented in 1895 by William G. Morgan, physical director of the Young Men’s
Christian Association (YMCA) in Holyoke, Massachusetts. It was designed as an indoor sport for
businessmen who found the new game of basketball too vigorous. Morgan called the sport
“MINTONETTE,” until a professor from Springfield College in Massachusetts noted the volleying
nature of play and proposed the name of “volleyball.” The original rules were written by
Morgan and printed in the first edition of the Official Handbook of the Athletic League of the
Young Men’s Christian Associations of North America (1897). The game soon proved to have
wide appeal for both sexes in schools, playgrounds, the armed forces, and other organizations
in the United States, and it was subsequently introduced to other countries.
In 1916 rules were issued jointly by the YMCA and the National Collegiate Athletic
Association (NCAA). The first nationwide tournament in the United States was conducted by the
National YMCA Physical Education Committee in New York City in 1922. The United States
Volleyball Association (USVBA) was formed in 1928 and recognized as the rules-making,
governing body in the United States. From 1928 the USVBA—now known as USA Volleyball
(USAV)—has conducted annual national men’s and senior men’s (age 35 and older) volleyball
championships, except during 1944 and 1945. Its women’s division was started in 1949, and a
senior women’s division (age 30 and older) was added in 1977. Other national events in the
United States are conducted by member groups of the USAV such as the YMCA and the NCAA.
(https://www.britannica.com/sports/volleyball)
BASIC VOLLEYBALL RULES
- 6 players on the floor at any one time - 3 in the front row and 3 in the back row

- Maximum of 3 hits per side

- Points are made on every serve for winning team of rally (rally-point scoring).

- Player may not hit the ball twice in succession. (A block is not considered a hit.)

- Ball may be played off the net during a volley and on a serve.

- A ball hitting a boundary line is in.

- A ball is out if it hits an antenna, the floor completely outside the court, any of the net
or cables outside the antennae, the referee stands or pole, the ceiling above a non-
playable area.

- It is legal to contact the ball with any part of a player’s body.

- It is illegal to catch, hold or throw the ball.

- A player cannot block or attack a serve from on or inside the 10-foot line.

- After the serve, front-line players may switch positions at the net.

- Matches are made up of sets; the number depends on level of play. 3-set matches are 2
sets to 25 points and a third set to 15. Each set must be won by two points. The winner
is the first team to win 2 sets. 5-set matches are 4 sets to 25 points and fifth set to 15.
The team must win by 2 unless tournament rules dictate otherwise. The winner is the
first team to win three sets.

(https://www.theartofcoachingvolleyball.com/basic-volleyball-rules-and-terminology/)
BASIC VOLLEYBALL RULE VIOLATIONS
- When serving, the player steps on or across the service line as while making contact
with the ball.

- Failure to serve the ball over the net successfully.

- Ball-handling errors. Contacting the ball illegally (double touching, lifting, carrying,
throwing, etc.)

- Touching the net with any part of the body while the ball is in play.

- When blocking a ball coming from the opponent’s court, it’s illegal to contact the ball
when reaching over the net if both your opponent has not used 3 contacts AND they
have a player there to make a play on the ball.

- When attacking a ball coming from the opponent’s court, contacting the ball when
reaching over the net is a violation if the ball has not yet broken the vertical plane of the
net.

- Crossing the court centerline with any part of your body is a violation. Exception: if it is
the hand or foot. In this case, the entire hand or entire foot must cross for it to be a
violation.

- Serving out of rotation/order.

- Back-row player blocking (deflecting a ball coming from the opponent) when, at the
moment of contact, the back-row player is near the net and has part of his/her body
above the top of the net. This is an illegal block.

- Back-row player attacking a ball inside the front zone (the area inside the 3M/10-foot
line) when, at the moment of contact, the ball is completely above the net. This is an
illegal attack.
(https://www.theartofcoachingvolleyball.com/basic-volleyball-rules-and-terminology/)
Playing Area
In the vast majority of cases, indoor volleyball is played in a multi-
purpose gymnasium either at a school or university, and the court
lines are superimposed on the floor along with basketball,
badminton, handball, and so forth. In national and world-level
competition, the court surface is usually dedicated only to the sport
of volleyball.

Court
No matter the venue, the court dimensions are as follows:

Free Zone Dimensions

The free zone is the area surrounding the court itself, in which the
ball can be played. It varies slightly for school age, university, and
international FIVB.

The main goal of the free zone is to provide a safe area for players
to play the ball – stands for spectators, equipment and so forth
should not be in this area except for the volleyball net stands, the
referee stand, etc.
 Variations
1.
1.
 High school and University: at least 2 meters, 3
meters is preferable.
 National / FIVB: minimum 3 meters, with a
minimum of 5 m from the side lines and 6.5 m from the end
lines for world and official tournaments.

Net Height
The official heights for the nets vary for men and women, but of
course you want to have success early on for beginner players so
by all means feel free to adjust the net height.

For ages 15 and above, the heights are:

1.
1.
 Men – 2.43 meters
 Women – 2.24 meters

Variations
Below age 15, you can use:

1.
1.
 Boys and Girls ages 13-14 – 2.24 meters
 Boys and Girls ages 11-12 – 2.13 meters
 Boys and Girls ages 10 and under – 1.98 meters

Related: Best Volleyball Nets

Number Of Players
In general, teams must have at least 6 players to start the match,
and at least 6 eligible players (substitution players, or “subs”) to
play the match. There are 6 players on court for each team during
the match. In FIVB rules, a team may have up to 14 players in total.

Serving Rules
The Actual Serve
The server must toss (i.e. release the ball), and then must contact
the ball behind the end line in the service area located behind Zone
1 (usually a 3 meter wide area). Neither foot may touch the line
during the contact. In the case of a jump serve, the jump takeoff
must be behind the line as well.

No Screening Allowed
The players on the serving team must not arrange themselves on
the court in such a way as to block the view of the server or the
ball, nor wave their hands or make other distracting movements.

variations
There are some minor volleyball rule differences regarding the
toss before the serve.
In FIVB, university and high school matches, the server must hit the
ball within 8 seconds after the referee whistles for service, and only
one toss is allowed.

For players under age 14 (i.e. middle school), the time is 5 seconds
from the whistle, but the server may have a second toss if the first
one was not effective, and lands without touching the server.

Player Service Rotation And

Positioning Rules
Each team has 6 players on the court at any one time. At the start of
the game, or “set”, each team’s coach arranges his / her players in
the zones of the court.

This arrangement dictates the rotational order of the team when

they are awarded the serve (either at the beginning of a set, or after
a “side-out” in which the team who served the ball to start a rally
loses the point).
The diagram below shows the order and flow of rotation:

It is critical to note that when a team is serving, the players of each

team must be in their zones. After the service hit, the players may
move around and occupy any position on their court and the free
zone.

If the serving team wins the rally and maintains the serve, the
players on each team MUST go back to their original zones for the
service (then are able to move again).
This order must be maintained throughout the set.

If there is a side-out, and the opposing team is awarded the serve,

that team rotates one position clockwise as shown in the above
diagram (i.e. the zone 2 player moves to zone 1 and serves, the zone
1 player moves to zone 6, the zone 6 moves to zone 5, and so on).
Flexibility Within Zones for Positioning
It is important to note that while the zones have a definite area,
there is flexibility within the areas regarding players locating
themselves within their specific zone – to a certain extent.

This helps with maximizing defensive talents, having players be

closer to their offensive skill positions, and so on. With that said,
players MUST follow these positional rules:

1. Each back-row player must be positioned

further back from the centerline than the corresponding
front-row player.
2. The front-row players and the back-row
players, respectively, must be positioned laterally in the
order indicated in the diagram.
3. The positions of players are determined and
controlled according to the positions of their feet contacting
the ground as follows:

1. Each front-row player must have at least a

part of his/her foot closer to the center line than the feet of
the corresponding back-row player.
2. Each right or left side player must have at
least a part of his/her foot closer to the right or left side line
than the feet of the center player in that row.

Scoring Rules – Points, Sets, And

Matches
Points
A single point is scored by a team when:
 1. That team successfully grounds the ball on the
opponent’s court, within the defined space including when
any part of the ball touches any of the side or end lines (in
other words, the lines are considered “in”).
2. When the opponent team commits a fault (i.e.
an action going against the rules).
3. When the opponent team receives a penalty.

If the serving team wins a rally, it scores a point and continues to

serve. If the team receiving the serve wins a rally as defined within
the above three sub-points, that team scores a point and it gets to
serve next (also called a “side-out”).

Sets & Matches

A “set” is a single game of volleyball, and a “match” is a certain
number of sets played to determine the overall winner of the play
between two teams.

1. A set is played to 25 points, with points being

awarded from each rally (also called a rally-point system).
Teams must win by two points to win the set; in the case of a
tie at 24 points each, for example, a team would have to win
26-24.
2. A match is a maximum of 5 sets, with a team
being declared winner of the match if it wins 3 sets (i.e. a
team may win 3-0, 3-1, or 3-2).
3. In the case of a 5th set when the match is tied
at 2 sets each, the final set is played to 15 points rather than
25, with the win by 2 points rule remaining in effect.

Variations
According to volleyball rules, high school and middle school teams
will often play in a three-team round robin format, especially if
there are many teams in a league and court / gym venues are
limited in the area.

In this case, two teams play while the third team watches (or
perhaps is in another area practicing). There is some leeway in the
rules to play such that a match of 3 sets may be played, with all sets
to 25 points.

In a university round robin format as described above, the choices

are best 3 of 5 sets, or best 2 of 3 sets (with the sets going to 25
points, win by 2 point rule in effect).

In FIVB, it is best 3 of 5 sets.

Violations Of Rules (Faults)

Violations of the rules for a player or players on one team results in
a “fault”, with the rally ending and a point being awarded to the
opposing team (and the loss of serve if applicable).

When Playing the Ball

1. Teams may only hit the ball three times when

the ball is on their side of the court. The third hit must get the
ball over the net, into the opposing team’s court area. If two
or three players on the same team hit the ball at the same
time, it counts as two or three hits, with the exception of two
or three players blocking the ball.
2. A player may not hit the ball two times
consecutively, with the following exceptions:

1. Playing the ball after a block (i.e. the player

contacts the ball in a block, then digs out the ball from
hitting on his/her side of the court).
 2. Playing the ball on the first hit of a team (in
which case the ball may contact various parts of the body
in succession, but must be in the same motion).
3. Players may not receive assistance from
another player, or an object such as the net stand, in order
to hit the ball.

3. The ball must be hit cleanly – in other words, the ball cannot be
cradled, carried, caught, thrown, or directed. The ball must
rebound clearly off the player.

4. During the serve, the server’s foot may not touch the end line
during contact with the ball. The server’s teammates may not block
the opponent’s view of the server, the ball, the trajectory of the ball,
and so on, nor can they distract the opposing team.
5. The ball may be played within the court area, the free zone, and
beyond the free zone. It the latter instance, this area is called a
“non-playing area” and must be able to be safely navigated.

Variations
Middle and high school players, and university players must be
touching the playable surface to legally play a ball over a non-
playable area.

For FIVB players, the ball may be retrieved from beyond the free
zone when the surface change is lower by ½” or less, and the area
is free of obstructions.

If this condition does NOT exist, then a player must be touching the
playable surface to play a ball over a non-playing area. This
accounts for specific volleyball venues that may have a raised
playing surface.
During the Rally
At The Net

1. The ball must cross over the net within what is

called the “crossing space”, which is the air space over the
top of the net between the sidelines. In official matches and
tournaments, there are antennae on the top of the net
directly above the sidelines to assist with defining this space
(see court diagram in Section 1). Otherwise, the ball is “out”.
2. The ball may touch the net as it goes over, and
may be played off the net as well. However, it may not touch
the wires, antennae, stand or padding.
3. Players may not contact the net (the exception
being if the ball is driven into the net by one team, causing
the net to touch a player on the other team).
Variations
Middle and high school players cannot contact the net, net cables,
or net antennae except contact by loose hair.  Contacting the net or
net cables is also a net fault. Dangerous contact with or gaining an
advantage from the standards or referee platform is a net fault.

If university and FIVB players contact the net between the

antennae, during the action of playing the ball, it is a fault. The
action of playing the ball includes (among others) the take off, the
hit / attempted hit, and landing.
However, players may touch the post, ropes, or any other object
outside the antennae, including the net itself, provided that it does
not interfere with play.
4. A player may not touch the ball or an opponent in the opponent’s
space, before or during the opponent’s attack hit.
5. A player’s foot or feet cannot penetrate completely into the
opponent’s court.

Variations
Middle and high school players can touch opponent’s court with
feet or hands, provided some part of the extremity is on or above
the center line. Contacting the floor across the centerline with any
other part of the body is a fault.
University and FIVB players can touch opponent’s court with feet
or hands, provided some part of extremity is on or above the
centerline.

Players may also touch the opponent’s court with an entire foot or
hand or any other body part(s), provided the encroachment does
not present a safety hazard, does not interfere with the opponents,
and some body part is on/over the center line.

6. In blocking, a player may not touch the ball beyond the net and
interfere with the opponent’s play before or during the opponent’s
attack hit.

The “Attack” Hit

1. While all players can play the ball, there are

certain restrictions on which players can “attack” the ball,
and from where they are in the court, during a rally.

1. The attack hit is defined as any hit of the ball

with the intent of it going over the net to the opponent’s
court. From a “zones” perspective, a front-row player (i.e.
those players who at the time of the serve were in zones 2,
3, and 4) may complete an attack hit at any height of the
ball, provided that the contact with the ball has been made
within the player’s own playing space.
 2. A back-row player (i.e. those players who at
the time of the serve were in zones 1, 6, and 5) may
complete an attack hit at any height only from behind the
front zone, as marked by the “attack” line or 3-meter line. A
back-row player may complete an attack hit from the front
zone, if at the moment of the contact a part of the ball is
lower than the top of the net.

2. A back row player may not, at his/her takeoff, touch or have

crossed over the attack line (but after his/her hit, the player may
land within the front zone).

3. A back-row player may not complete an attack hit from the front
zone, if at the moment of the hit the ball is entirely higher than the
top of the net.

4. The serve cannot be attacked.

Variations
Middle and high school players cannot attack the opponent’s serve
from in front of, or behind, the attack line if the ball is entirely
above the top of the net, according to volleyball rules.
University and FIVB players cannot attack the opponent’s service,
when the ball is in the front zone and entirely higher than the top
of the net.

5. A player may not hit the ball within the playing space of the
opposing team.

The Block

1. Back-row players may not block.

2. Players may not touch the ball in the
opponent’s space, either before or simultaneously with the
opponent’s attack hit.
 3. Players may not block the ball in the
opponent’s space from outside the antenna.
4. The serve may not be blocked.

Rotational / Positional Faults

It is important to remember that while volleyball is a very free
flowing sport during rallies, with players moving all around
(subject to some restrictions on who can play the ball from where
on the court as described above), the rotation and position rules
are very strict. As such, faults are declared if the rules from section
4, PLAYER SERVICE ROTATION AND POSITIONING RULES, are not
followed.

1. Rotational Fault – A rotational fault is

committed when the service is not made according to the
rotational order. It leads to the following consequences:

1. A point and service is awarded to the

opponent (and the order of the offending team must be
corrected).
2. The scorer determines the exact moment
when the fault was committed, and all points scored
subsequently by the team at fault must be cancelled while
the opponent’s points remain valid.

2. Positional Fault – A positional fault is committed when, at the

time of the serve, the players are not in their appropriate zones on
the court according to their rotational order. This includes when a
player is on court through illegal substitution. It leads to the
following consequences

1.
 A point and service awarded to the opponent.
  The player positions must be corrected.

Substitutions
Players in the starting rotation may be substituted with other
players from the team, with certain restrictions.

1. A player that has been substituted may re-

enter the game, but only in the position from which they
were substituted.
2. Coaches must request a substitution with the
referee. In cases where there is a substitution zone on the
playing surface, a player entering the substitution zone also
represent a request.
3. Inserting a Librero does not count as a
substitution.
4. Number of substitutions allowed:

1. Middle and High School – 18 substitutions per

set.
2. University – 12 substitutions per set.
3. FIVB – 6 substitutions per set. A player of the
starting line-up may leave the game, but only once in a set,
and re-enter, but only once in a set.

5. An “exceptional substitution” may occur when a player (except

the Libero) cannot continue playing due to injury or illness. They
should be substituted legally, but if this is not possible, the team is
entitled to make an exceptional substitution. This means that any
player who is not on the court at the time of the injury/illness,
except the Libero, second Libero or their regular replacement
player, may be substituted into the game for the injured/ill player.
The substituted injured/ill player is not allowed to re-enter the
match.
6. If there is an illegal substitution in violation of the above, the
following consequences occur:

1.
 The offending team is penalized with a point
and service to the opponent, and the substitution must be
rectified.
 The points scored by the team at fault since
the fault was committed are cancelled, while the
opponent’s points remain valid.

The Libero
You may recall that the Librero position is a designated defensive
specialist on the team. There is one Librero designated per set, per
team, in middle school, high school and university levels while the
FIVB allows up to 2 Libreros designated per set (with only one
Librero allowed on the court at any one time).

A Librero’s uniform must be a significantly contrasting colour to

that of his / her teammates (while being of the same style, having
the same logo, and so forth).

The Play of the Libero

1. The Librero is restricted to perform as a back-

row player, and is not allowed to complete an attack from
anywhere on or off the court if, at the moment of contact, the
ball is entirely above the height of the net.
2. The Librero may not block, or attempt to
block.
3. The Librero may serve in one rotation per set.
 4. A teammate may not complete an attack
when, at the moment of the attack, the ball is entirely above
the net and the ball is coming from an overhand finger pass
by a Librero on or in front of the attack line. The ball may be
freely attacked if the Librero overhand finger passes from
behind the attack line.
5. If he / she is airborne, the Librero’s position is
judged according to the point of last contact with his/her
team’s court.

Libero Replacement

1. The Librero replacements are not counted as

substitutions. They are unlimited, but there must be a
completed rally between two Librero replacements (unless a
penalty causes the team to rotate and the Librero to move to
position four, or the Acting Librero becomes unable to play,
making the rally incomplete).
2. The Librero is allowed to replace any player in
a back-row position.
3. The player who is replaced by the Librero can
only replace the Librero. An incorrect Librero replacement is
penalized with a delay of game if the officials identify and
correct the situation prior to the next service contact. If
identified after service contact, a position fault results and
the opposing team is awarded a point, and the serve.
4. Replacements can only take place after the
end of a rally, or at the start of each game after the referee
has verified the starting line-up. The replacement must occur
while the ball is out of play and before the referee signals for
serve. A replacement will not be allowed after the referee
signals for serve.
 5. A Librero, and the player replaced by the
Librero, must enter or leave the court only by the sideline in
front of their team bench between the attack line and the
end line.

(https://www.volleyballadvice.com/volleyball-rules-regulations/)