Volleyball notes

RULES OF THE GAME

Official Volleyball Rules Approved by the 34th FIVB Congress 2014 

1.       DIMENSIONS: the playing court is a rectangle measuring 18 x 9 m, surrounded by a free zone, which is a minimum of 3 m wide on all sides. The free playing space shall measure a minimum of 7 m in height from the playing surface.

2.       LINES ON THE COURT

·         Boundary lines:  2 side lines and 2 end lines mark the playing court.

·         Centre line: the centre line divides the playing court into two equal courts measuring 9 x 9 m each; This line extends beneath the net from side line to side line.

·         Attack line: On each court, there is an attack line, which is drawn 3 m back from the centre line,

3.       ZONES

·         Front zone : on each court the front zone is limited by the centre line and the attack line.

·         Service zone: the service zone is a 9 m wide area behind each end line. It is laterally limited by two short lines, each 15 cm long, drawn 20 cm behind the end line as an extension of the side lines. In depth, the service zone extends to the end of the free zone.

4.       NET AND POSTS

HEIGHT OF THE NET : is 2.43 m for men and 2.24 m for women.

POSTS: the posts supporting the net are placed at a distance of 0.50 -1.00 m outside the side lines. They are 2.55 m high and preferably adjustable.

6. TEAM COMPOSITION: a  team may consist of up to 12 players.and  there must always be six players per team in play (team starting line-up) One of the players, is the team captain (mandatory). When the team captain is not on the court, the coach must assign another player on the court, but not the Libero, to assume the role of game captain. When the ball is out of play, only the game captain is authorized to speak to the referees. Each team has the possibility of assigning a player called “The Libero” (it is not mandatory), and if assigned, the libero cannot be the captain.

7. PLAYING FORMAT

To score a point : a  team scores a point:

• by successfully grounding the ball on the opponent’s court
• when the opponent team commits a fault
• when the opponent team receives a penalty.

Fault: a team commits a fault by making a playing action contrary to the rules 

• If two or more faults are committed successively, only the first one is counted.
• If two or more faults are committed by opponent simultaneously, a DOUBLE FAULT is called and the rally is replayed.

Rally : a rally is the sequence of playing actions from the moment of the service hit by the server until the ball is out of play. A completed rally is the sequence of playing actions which results in the award of a point.

• if the serving team wins a rally, it scores a point and continues to serve;
• if the receiving team wins a rally, it scores a point and it wins back the serve and must serve next.

To win the match/set: the match is won by the team that wins three sets, as matches are played best of five sets. The first four sets are played to 25 points, with the final set (5^th ) being played to 15 points. A team must win any set by two points, so a set continues until one of the teams gains a two-point advantage and there is no celing.

8. THE TOSS:  before the match, the first referee carries out a toss to decide upon the first service and the sides of the court in the first set. If a deciding set (5^th set) is to be played, a new toss will be carried out. The toss is taken in the presence of the two team captains and the winner of the toss chooses: EITHER the right to serve or to receive the service OR the side of the court. The loser takes the remaining choice.

9. POSITIONS: at the moment the ball is hit by the server, each team must be positioned within its own court in the rotational order (except the server).The positions of the players are numbered as follows: the three players along the net are front-row players and occupy positions 4 (front-left), 3 (front-centre) and 2 (front-right); the other three are back-row players occupying positions 5 (back-left), 6 (back-centre) and 1 (back-right). each back-row player must be positioned further back from the centre line than the corresponding front-row player; the front-row players and the back-row players, respectively, must be positioned laterally in the order indicated . The positions of players are determined and controlled according to the positions of their feet contacting the ground as follows:  each front-row player must have at least a part of his/her foot closer to the centre line than the feet of the corresponding back-row player; each right (left) side player must have at least a part of his/her foot closer to the right (left) sideline than the feet of the centre player in that row. After the service hit, the players may move around and occupy any position on their court, and the free zone.

POSITIONAL FAULT:

• the team commits a positional fault, if any player is not in his/her correct position at the moment the ball is hit by the server.
• If the server commits a serving fault at the moment of the service hit, the server's fault is counted before a positional fault. ( e.g. the serve is performed by a player out of turn, the server steps on the line or inside the playing court, it takes for him more than 8” to serve, serve before the whistle is blown......)
• If the service becomes faulty after the service hit, it is the positional fault that will be counted.

10. ROTATION:  rotational order is determined by the team's starting line-up. When the receiving team has gained the right to serve, its players rotate one position clock-wise: the player in position 2 rotates to position 1 to serve, the player in position 1 rotates to position 6, etc.

ROTATIONAL FAULT : a rotational fault is committed when the SERVICE is not made according to the rotational order. It leads to the following consequences:

• the team is sanctioned with a point and service to the opponent  and the players' rotational order is rectified.

11. PLAYING THE BALL: Each team must play within its own playing area and space (except Rule 10.1.2). The ball may, however, be retrieved from beyond the free zone.

Team hits:  A hit is any contact with the ball by a player in play. The team is entitled to a maximum of three hits (in addition to blocking, for returning the ball.

Consecutive contacts: A player may not hit the ball two times consecutively(except when blocking).

 Simultaneous contacts:  Two or three players may touch the ball at the same moment. When two (three) team-mates touch the ball simultaneously, it is counted as two (three) hits (with the exception of blocking). If they reach for the ball, but only one of them touches it, one hit is counted.

Characteristics of the hit :

• The ball may touch any part of the body.
• The ball must not be caught and/or thrown.
• The ball may touch various parts of the body, provided that the contacts take place simultaneously, that is to say, it occurs during one action.

Faults in playing the ball : Four hits, a team hits the ball four times before returning it. Assisted hit: a player takes support from a team-mate or any structure/object in order to hit the ball within the playing area. Catch the ball or double contact by the same player in two different playing actions.

12.  BALL AT THE NET

Ball touching the net: While crossing the net, the ball may touch it.

Ball in the net: A ball driven into the net may be recovered within the limits of the three team hits.

13. PLAYER AT THE NET

Reaching beyond the net

• In blocking, a blocker may touch the ball beyond the net,
• After an attack hit, a player is permitted to pass his/her hand beyond the net, provided that the contact has been made within his/her own playing space.
• Penetration under the net: It is permitted to penetrate into the opponent’s space under the net, provided that this does not interfere with the opponent’s play.
• Contact with the net :  Players must not  touch the post, ropes, or any other object outside the antennae, including the net itself, although it is permitted  provided that it does not interfere with play. When the ball is driven into the net, causing it to touch an opponent, no fault is committed.

14. SERVICE

• The service is the act of putting the ball into play, by the back right player, placed in the service zone.
• The first service of the first set, as well as that of the deciding set (the 5th) is executed by the team determined by the toss. The other sets will be started with the service of the team that did not serve first in the previous set.
• When the serving team wins the rally, the player who served before, serves again; a his/her team wins a point.
•  When the receiving team wins the rally, this team also wins a point and  it gains the right to serve and rotates before actually serving.
• The ball shall be hit with one hand or any part of the arm after being tossed or released from the hand(s) an only one toss or release of the ball is allowed.
• At the moment of the service hit or take-off for a jump service, the server must not touch the court (the end line included) , however, after the hit, he/she may step or land outside the service zone, or inside the court.
• The server must hit the ball within 8 seconds after the first referee whistles for service.
• A service executed before the referee's whistle is cancelled and repeated. 12.3

15. ATTACK HIT

Definition of the attack hit : All actions which direct or send  the ball towards the opponent’s court, with the exception of service and block, are considered as attack hits.

RESTRICTIONS OF THE ATTACK HIT

• A front-row player may complete an attack hit at any height
• A back-row player may complete an attack hit at any height from behind the front zone, provided that at his/her take-off, the player's foot (feet) must neither have touched nor crossed over the attack line; after his/her hit, the player may land within the front zone.
• A back-row player may also complete an attack hit from the front zone, if at the moment of the contact part of the ball is lower than the top of the net.
• No player is permitted to complete an attack hit on the OPPONENT’S service, when the ball is in the front zone and entirely higher than the top of the net.
• A Libero completes an attack hit if at the moment of the hit the ball is entirely higher than the top of the net.  
• A player completes an attack hit from higher than the top of the net when the ball is coming from an overhand finger pass by a Libero in his/her front zone.

16. THE LIBERO PLAYER

Designation of the libero : Each team has the right (opctional) to designate from the list of players on the score sheet up to two (2) specialised defensive players: Liberos.. The Libero on court is the Acting/Starting Libero. If there is another Libero, he/she will act as the second Libero. Only one Libero may be on court at any time.

The Libero cannot be the captain .

Equipment:  The Libero players must wear a uniform (or jacket/bib) whose jerseys at least must contrast in colour with that of the other members of the team.

Replacements involving the Libero are not counted as substitutions., they are unlimited, but there must be a completed rally between two replacements The Libero is just allowed to replace any player in a back row position and this player is the only who can substitute the libero again, except the second libero. The Libero rotates between the position 6 and 5, and when he/she must rotate to 4 position is substitued. The libero can substitute the player in the position 1 if this player is not serving.

Playing actions

•  He/she is not allowed to complete an attack hit from anywhere if at the moment of the contact, the ball is entirely higher than the top of the net.
• He/she may not serve, block or attempt to block.
• A player may not complete an attack hit from higher than the top of the net, if the ball is coming from an overhand finger pass by a Libero in his/her front zone. The ball may be freely attacked if the Libero makes the same action from outside his/her front zone.

Injured libero: If the libero is injured and  only one Libero is registered on the score sheet, the coach may re-designate as Libero for the remainder of the match any other player (replacement player excepted) not on the court at the moment of the re-designation.

If the Libero is expelled or disqualified, he/ she may be replaced directly by the team’s other Libero. Should the team have only one Libero, then it must play without a Libero for the duration of the sanction.

17. BLOCK : Blocking is the action of players close to the net to intercept the ball coming from the opponent by reaching higher than the top of the net, regardless of the height of the ball contact. Only front-row players are permitted to complete a block.

Block and team hits: A block contact is not counted as a team hit. Consequently, after a block contact, a team is entitled to three hits to return the ball. The first hit after the block may be executed by any player, including the one who has touched the ball during the block.

18. SUBSTITUTION OF PLAYERS

• A substitution is the act by which a player, other than the Libero or his/her replacement player, after being recorded by the scorer, enters the game to occupy the position of another player, who must leave the court at that moment.
• Limitation of substitutions Six substitutions is the maximum permitted per team per set. One or more players may be substituted at the same time.
• 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, and only to his/her previous position in the line-up.
• A substitute player may enter the game in place of a player of the starting line-up, but only once per set, and he/she can only be substituted by the same starting player.
• Exceptional substitution:A player (except the Libero) who cannot continue playing due to injury or illness, should be substituted legally. If this is not possible, the team is entitled to make an EXCEPTIONAL substitution, beyond the limits of Rule .An exceptional substitution means that any player who is not on the court at the time of the injury, except the Libero or his/her replacement player, may be substituted into the game for the injured player. The substituted injured player is not allowed to re-enter the match.

Substitution for expulsion or disqualification:  An EXPELLED or DISQUALIFIED player must be substituted immediately through a legal substitution. If this is not possible, the team is declared INCOMPLETE.