USIAA Volleyball Rules:
Scholarship and Roster Rules:
- All programs can only have a max of 15 players (for indoor teams) or 8 players (for beach teams) during the regular season; this limit is lifted to 125 (indoor) or 118 (beach) players for preseason tryouts and for the summer (indoor) or the fall (beach) practices only.
- All programs can choose whether to allow athletic scholarships or not; start-up programs are given a max of 5 years to decide whether or not to provide athletic scholarships to players.
- All D1 men's indoor scholarship programs can only have a max of 4.5 total scholarships, and a max of 2 full scholarship players.
- All D1 women's indoor scholarship programs can only have a max of 12 total scholarships, and a max of 6 full scholarship players.
- All D1 women's sand/beach scholarship programs can only have a max of 5 total scholarships, and a max of 2 full scholarship players.
- All D2 women's scholarship programs can only have a max of 8 total scholarships, and a max of 4 full scholarship players.
- All D3 women's scholarship programs can only have a max of 8 total scholarship players.
- All D4 women's scholarship programs can only have a max of 14 total scholarships, and a max of 7 full scholarship players.
- All programs can only have a max of 12 (indoor) or 6 (beach) players on the active roster for all regular season games.
- All programs are required to give all 2-3 inactive players free season tickets in the designated student sections for all home games.
- Net Rules:
a) Men's Net Height - 2.43 meters or 8’; Women's Net Height - 2.24 meters or 7’4”.
b) Contact with net permitted as long as it does not interfere with play. - Scoring points:
a) Putting the ball on the floor in-bounds on your opponent's side of the net.
b) An error (forced or unforced) by your opponent which renders them unable to return the ball over the net and in-bounds on your side in their allotted three contacts. - To get play started, a team is chosen to serve by coin toss. A player from the serving team throws the ball into the air and attempts to hit the ball so it passes over the net on a course such that it will land in the opposing team's court (the serve).
- The opposing team must use a combination of no more than three contacts with the volleyball to return the ball to the opponent's side of the net. These contacts usually consist first of the bump or pass so that the ball's trajectory is aimed towards the player designated as the setter; second of the set (usually an over-hand pass using wrists to push finger-tips at the ball) by the setter so that the ball's trajectory is aimed towards a spot where one of the players designated as an attacker can hit it, and third by the attacker who spikes (jumping, raising one arm above the head and hitting the ball so it will move quickly down to the ground on the opponent's court) to return the ball over the net. The team with possession of the ball that is trying to attack the ball as described is said to be on offense.
- Serving
a) Coin toss: The first referee carries out a coin toss to determine the first service and the sides of the court in the first set (and in a deciding set, if one is to be played). The winner of the toss can choose either the right to serve or receive the service, or which side of the court to play on. The loser takes the remaining choice. For sets two through four, the team that did not serve first in the previous set serves first, and it alternates again for the next set.
b) Order: After the initial service in the set, players serve by rotating in the order of the starting line-up. When the serving team wins the rally, the player (or his/her substitute) who served before serves again. When the receiving team wins the rally, it gains the right to serve and rotates before actually serving. The player who moves from the front right position to the back-right position serves.
c) Execution: The ball must be hit with one hand or any part of the arm after being tossed or released from the hand or hands. 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) or the ground outside the service zone. After the hit, he 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. Screening is not allowed and is grounds for a service fault. A player or group of players of the serving team make a screen by waving arms, jumping or moving sideways during a serve, or by standing grouped to hide the flight path of the ball.
a) Service faults = a) The serve touches a player of the serving team, b) The serve fails to cross the vertical plane of the net between the antennae, or c) The serve lands "out." - Fouls:
a) Touch the net while making a play on the ball
b) Step on the back line while serving (foot fault)
c) Contact the ball more than three times on a side (A block doesn't count as a contact)
d) Lift or push the ball
e) Play the ball over the net outside of the antennas
f) Contact the ball twice in a row (unless the first contact was a block.)
- Court Size & Net Rules:
a) 18m x 9m (59' x 29'6").
b) Any part of body above feet can go under the net as long as it does not interfere with play.
c) Feet can go under the net if they don’t interfere with play and part of foot is on or above center line. - Scoring Rules:
a) Rally scoring is m; Must win by two with no point cap.
b) Games are best of 5 sets; the first 4 sets played to 25 points, with the 5th set played to 15 points.
c) Teams switch sides at game's end in sets 1-4 and when leading team reaches 8 points in set #5. - Roster & Substitution Rules:
a) Each indoor team consists of 6 players.
b) In substitution, a player enters the game to occupy the position of another player (except the libero) who leaves the court. Substitution requires the referee's authorization, and only the coach or the game captain can request a substitution. Each team is entitled to six substitutions per set. One or more players may be substituted at the same time.
c) Starters: A player from the starting line-up may be substituted for once per set. He or she may re-enter -- only to his or her previous position -- but must then remain at least until the end of the set. A substitute may enter the game once per set, and can only be substituted by the same starter he or she replaced.
d) Exceptional substitution: An injured player (except the libero) who cannot continue should be substituted. If this is not possible -- for instance, if the player already had been substituted for earlier in the same set -- the team is entitled to make an exceptional substitution, meaning that any player who is not on the court at the time of the injury can substitute into the game for the injured player. The injured player is not allowed to re-enter the match after the exceptional substitute has entered the game.
e) Disqualified players: An expelled or disqualified player must be substituted. - Rotation:
a) Starting line-up: A team's coach presents the starting line-up to the referees before the start of every set. The starting line-up indicates the rotational order of the players on the court. This order must be maintained throughout the set. At any given time there must be six players in play on each team. The players who are not in the starting line-up are the substitutes for that set (except for the libero, who can be substituted at any time).
b) Positions: The three players along the net are front row players and occupy positions 4 (front left), 3 (front center), and 2 (front right). The other three are back row players occupying positions 5 (back left), 6 (back center), and 1 (back right). At the moment the ball is hit by the server, each team (except the server) must be positioned within its own court in the rotational order. After the service is hit, the players may move around and occupy any position on their court or in the free zone. The team commits a rotational fault (loss of the point) if any player is not in his or her correct position when the serve is executed.
c) Order: Rotational order is determined by the team's starting line-up, and controlled with the service order, throughout the set. When the receiving team has gained the right to serve, its players rotate one position clockwise: the player in position 2 rotates to position 1 to serve, the player in position 1 rotates to position 6, etc. - Timeouts:
1) Each team is entitled to request a maximum of two timeouts per set. All requested timeouts last 30 seconds.
2) A timeout request is made with a hand signal (forming a "T" using both hands) when the ball is out of play and before the whistle for service.
3) A technical time-out of 60 seconds is applied automatically when the leading team reaches the eighth and 16th points in sets one through four. There are no technical time-outs in the deciding (fifth) set, only each team's two 30-second time-outs.
- Court Size & Net Rules:
a) 16m x 8m (52'6" x 26'3").
b) Players can fully enter opponent’s court as long as does not interfere with play. - Scoring Rules
a) All Olympic beach volleyball matches are best two-out-of-three sets.
b) The first 2 sets are played to 21 points by rally scoring, with the 3rd set being played to 15 points.
c) In each set, a team must win by at least a two-point margin; there is no ceiling, so play continues until one team goes ahead by two points, thus winning the game.
d) Teams switch sides when sum of points scored equals 7 in sets #1-2, and when sum of points scored equals 5 in set #3. - Tallying points:
a) Typically, a point ends when: the ball touches the court, the ball is hit out of bounds, a team makes more than three contacts with the ball, a player touches the ball twice consecutively (except in the case of a block), or a player touches the net. Every time the ball hits the ground, or a team fails to return it, play is stopped and a point is awarded to the team who did not fail to put the ball back in play. Points are most often scored by a hard, un-returnable spike, or by a block that deflects a spike back into the attacking player's side of the court. - Rally scoring:
a) Both teams are able to earn a point, no matter who served. In line with past rules, whichever team wins a point will serve to start the next one. This system, known as "rally scoring," makes a game go much faster. - Side change:
a) Teams change sides of the court at every multiple of seven points in sets 1 and 2, and every five points in set 3 until the match is over. This is done in order to equalize the effect of the sun and wind on the outcome of the game. - Serving:
a) Order: A coin toss is used to determine which team will begin serving in the first set of a match. The winners of the coin toss choose: a) either to serve or receive, or b) on which side of the court they want to start. The losers make the remaining choice. For the second set, the loser of the coin toss chooses 'a' or 'b.' For the third set, a new coin toss is conducted. Immediately after the initial coin toss, each team submits a serving order that lists the rotation the two players will follow for the duration of the match.
b) Duration: If the serving team wins a rally, the same player serves again. If the returning team wins the rally, it gains the serve, and the server for the next point is whichever player had not been the server when his/her team was last serving.
c) Execution: When serving, a player may move freely behind the end line of the court. During the delivery of the serve, the player's foot cannot cross the end line on the ground until he or she has made contact with the ball. The server must make contact with the ball within five seconds of the first referee signaling the serve. The server can only contact the ball with one hand, or any part of the arm, but may hold the ball with both hands before starting the serving motion. - Hitting:
a) Attack-hits: A player may perform an attack-hit at any height, as long as contact is made on the player's side of the court. A fault is called when a player contacts the ball on the opponent's side, hits the ball out of bounds, or completes an attack-hit on the opponent's serve when the ball is entirely above the height of the net.
b) Block: A player may place his or her hands and arms over the net as long as the action does not interfere with the opponent's play, but a player is not allowed to touch the ball until the opponent has made an attack-hit. Any player can make the first contact with the ball after a block, including the player who initially blocked the ball. Counted as a team contact, the team has two hits after the block to send the ball back over to the opponent's side of the court. A block results in a fault if the blocker touches the ball on the opponent's side before the opponent's attack-hit, a player blocks the ball in the opponent's space from outside the antenna, or a player blocks the opponent's serve. - The Net:
a) Ball at the net: The ball may touch the net while on its way to the opponent's court. If it is driven into the net, the players may recover it, as long as they do not use more than three hits to do so.
b) Player at the net: While blocking, a player may touch the ball beyond the net, as long as the player does not interfere with the opponent's play before or during the attack. A player is allowed to place his or her hands beyond the net after an attack as long as the contact was made within his/her team's playing space. As long as only three hits are used and an opponent has not touched the ball, a player may contact a ball that has crossed below the net in order to hit it to a teammate. A player may contact a ball that has crossed the net completely outside the posts in order to direct the ball to a teammate, as long as only three hits are used and an opponent has not touched the ball. Players may cross the centerline below the net or outside the poles as long as he or she does not interfere with the opponent's play. A fault is called if there is interference, or if a player or a player's clothing touches any part of the net. However, it is not a fault if the net touches a player as a result of the ball being driven into the net. Once a player has contacted the ball, the player may touch the posts, ropes or any other object outside the total length of the net, as long as this contact does not interfere with play. - Coaching:
a) While no coaching is allowed during a match, most teams will bring along a coach, scout or trainer to the Olympics to assist them during practice and to help prepare for potential opponents. However, this person is not allowed to be in contact with the team on the warm-up courts prior to a match, or during the competition. - Timeouts:
a) Each team is allowed to call one, 30-second time out in each set. Players may request a time-out when the ball is out of play and before the whistle is blown to signal a serve. In sets 1 and 2, a 30-second Technical Timeout is called when the sum of the points scored by both teams reaches 21.
- 4 points for a win.
- 2 points for a draw.
- 1 "bonus" point for losing in overtime.
- All D1/D2 Men's Indoor & Women's Sand/Beach programs play a 26-game season (13h/13a) beginning in the second week of January and ending in the last week of April.
- All D1 Women's Indoor programs play a 32-game season (16h/16a) beginning in the last week of August and ending in the last week of November.
- All D2 Women's Indoor programs play an 26-game season (13h/13a) beginning in the last week of August and ending in the last week of November.
- All D3 Women's Indoor & D3/D4 men's programs play a 24-game season (12h/12a) beginning in the second week of November and ending in the second week of February.
- All D4 Women's Indoor programs play a 20-game season (10h/10a) beginning in the second week of November and ending in the first week of February.
- A max of 16 (women's D1), 12 (men's D1/D2 & D3/D4, Sand/Beach, women's D2-D3) , or 10 (women's D4) non-regional games are allowed; all non-regional games are required to be against teams that are within 700 (men's D1/D2, women's indoor D1, sand/beach), or 500 (men's D3/D4 & women's D2-D4) miles of the program in question.
- The Men's Indoor & Women's Sand/Beach Tournaments begin on the first week of May and ending 5 weeks later.
- The Women's D1-D4 Indoor Tournaments begin on the first week after the regular season and ending 5 weeks later.
- To be eligible for the post season:
a) D1 women's indoor programs must have a minimum record of 16-16 (or 15-17 with good academic standing), and not be on probation.
b) D2 women's indoor programs must have a minimum record of 13-13 (or 12-14 with good academic standing), and not be on probation.
c) D3 women's indoor programs must have a minimum record of 12-12 (or 11-13 with good academic standing), and not be on probation.
d) D4 women's indoor programs must have a minimum record of 5-5 (or 4-6 with good academic standing), and not be on probation.
e) D1/D2 men's indoor programs must have a minimum record of 13-13 (or 12-14 with good academic standing), and not be on probation.
f) D3/D4 men's indoor programs must have a minimum record of 12-12 (or 11-13 with good academic standing), and not be on probation.
g) D1 women's sand/beach programs must have a minimum record of 13-13 (or 12-14 with good academic standing), and not be on probation.