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I. TEAM COMPOSITION

1. Players can compete on one men’s/women’s team, regardless of leagues classification and one Co-Rec team.
2. Six (6) players constitute a team. A team must have a minimum of four (4) players to begin a game.
3. In Co-Rec play, a team constitutes of 3 male and 3 female. A team may begin a game with a minimum of (4) four players, but there may be a difference of possibly one more female on the court at all times, 3F/2M or 4W/2M, but never more male than female players on the court.

II. THE COURT AND EQUIPMENT

1. The playing area is 60 ft. in length and 30 ft. in width, with the net being 7ft. and 11 5/8 inches for men and Co-Rec, and 7ft. and 4 l/8 inches for women.

2. The official ball will be a regulation, indoor, leather volleyball.

3. Athletic shoes must be worn by all players.

4. Knee pads are the only acceptable form of protective pads that will be permitted.

5. Other types of equipment or substances which will be declared illegal include: jewelry, headgear, any slippery sticky foreign substance on any equipment or exposed part of the body, and any equipment which includes computers or any electronic or mechanical devices (i.e. bullhorns) for communication. If the illegal equipment is not removed that player is not allowed to play.

6. Leg and knee braces made of hard, unyielding material (unless covered on both sides and all edges overlapped with at least 1/2 inch of protective material) will be declared illegal.

III. GROUND RULES

1. A ball striking the ceiling or an overhead obstruction above a playing area is considered in play provided the ball contacts the ceiling or obstruction on the side of the net extended that is occupied by the team that last played the ball, and the ball is legally played next by the same team.

IV. START AND DURATION OF PLAY, PLAYER POSITIONS, SUBSTITUTES

1. Start and Duration of Play

The captain winning the toss will have the option to serve/receive or playing area.

The loser is granted the remaining choice.

Matches going to a third game will require another coin toss with the same options as above.

A match consists of the best two of three (win by two).

If time has ran out, and the teams are in the middle of a game; the team that is ahead at the end of the hour will be awarded the victory.

Each team is entitled to two, thirty-second time outs per game.

2. Player Positions

• The position of players in order of the serve is right back, right front, center front, left front, left back, and center back.
• At the moment of serve:
  • All players, except the server, must be within the team's playing area and may be in contact with the boundary lines, or center line, but may not have any part of the body touching the floor outside those lines.
    • All players must be in correct serving order. The center front may not have a foot touching the floor as near the right sideline as the right front nor as near the left side line as the left front. The center back must not have a foot touching the floor as near the left sideline as the left back. The center back on the receiving team must not have a foot touching the floor as near the right sideline as the right back. No back line player may have a foot touching the floor as near the center line as the corresponding front line player.
    • After the ball is contacted for the serve, players may move from their respective positions.
    • When the serve is awarded to a team, they rotate clockwise 1 position (except for the first serve).
    • A request for the team serving order may be made by a coach or playing captain while the ball is dead. 
  • Penalties for illegal positioning:
  • For illegal alignment, point/side-out is awarded the opponent for:
  • Overlapping by players other than the server at the moment of a legal serve occurs;
  • Positioning, at the moment of a legal serve, of any player, other than the server, outside the boundaries of the playing area;
  • For an improper server, side-out is awarded as soon as the improper server is discovered and verified. Any points known by the official scorer to have been made by the improper server are canceled.
  • When an improper server is discovered prior to the contact of the first serve by the opposing team, all points earned by the improper server are canceled. No further penalty is assessed.
  • When an improper server is not discovered until after the serve has alternated and the first serve has been contacted, there is no cancellation of points, and no penalty is assessed.
  • Proper serving order as written on the score sheet will be reinstituted immediately.
  • A screen is an act, intentional or unintentional, which obstructs the receiving player's view of the server or the flight of the ball from the server. PENALTY: A side-out is awarded to the opponent.

  3. Substitutions

  • The continuous substitution rule will be in effect. There will never be a case where player for player substitution will be used.
  • The right forward will drop off the court at each rotation, and the next substitute will enter the game as the right back.
  • Substitutes must be listed before a game begins. Once a service has been delivered no more subs may enter the game should they arrive late. EXCEPTION: Should a team begin with only 4 or 5 players, they may add up to 6 any time during the match with this person entering as the server.
  • In Co-Rec play a man must substitute for a man, and a woman for a woman.
  • PENALTY FOR AN ILLEGAL SUBSTITUTE: Unnecessary delay is charged the offending team when an illegal substitute attempts to enter or is found in the game.
  • For the serving team, any points known to have been scored on this term of service while the illegal substitute was in the game are canceled.
  • For the receiving team prior to the contact of the service by the opposing team, all points earned during the previous term of service by the violating team while the illegal substitute was in the game, are canceled.
  • After the serve has alternated and the first serve is contacted, there will be no cancellation of points.
  • In all cases, the illegal substitute must enter legally or be replaced by a legal player.

  V. Scoring and results of the game

  A non-deciding game (games 1 and 2) is won when a team reaches 25 points and has at least a two-point advantage over its opponents. There is no cap in any game.

  All games of a match will be played under "rally scoring", awarding a point on each service.

  When the receiving team commits a fault, the serving team scores a point.

  When the serving team commits a fault, the receiving team scores a point.

  The first two games will be to 25 and the deciding game (if needed) will be to 15, with a two point advantage.

  VI. BALL IN AND OUT OF PLAY

  1. The Serve

  • A serve is contact with the ball to initiate play. The server must hit the ball with 1 hand, fist or arm while the ball is held, or after it is released by the server. The server must serve from within the serving area and may not touch the end line or the floor outside the lines marking the width of the serving area at the instant the ball is contacted for the serve. The server's body may be in the air over or beyond the serving area boundary lines, having left the floor from within the serving area.
  • A team's term of service begins when a player assumes the right back position as the server and ends when a side-out is awarded.
  • A re-serve will be called when the server releases the ball for service, and then drops it to the floor. The official will cancel the serve and direct a second and last attempt at serve. The server is allowed a new 8 seconds for the re-serve. A re-serve is considered to be a part of a single attempt to serve. Therefore, after the official's signal for service, no requests (i.e. time-out, service order, lineup, substitution, etc.) may be recognized until after the ball has been served. If a player catches the ball after releasing it for a serve, a side-out/point is awarded to the other team.
  • The first server for each team is the right back player. Therefore, the right front player rotates to the serving area, or rotates off if there are substitutes.
  • A team continues serving until it commits a foul or the game ends.
  • The serve alternates when there is a foul by the serving team and a side-out is awarded.
  • The team not serving alternates when there is a foul by the serving team and a side-out is awarded the opponent.

  .A serve is illegal and the ball remains dead if the server:

  1.  
     1.  
        • Hits the ball illegally.
  • Is touching the end line or the floor outside the serving area when the ball is contacted.
  • Is out of serving order or is from the wrong team.
  • Deliberately serves before the official's signal to begin the serve.
  • Releases the ball for service, then catches it or drops it to the floor more than once during one term of service.

  A served ball is a service fault and becomes dead when the ball:

  • Does not legally cross the net (touching net on serve is legal!), passes under the net, touches one of the server's teammates, touches the floor on the server's side of the net.
  • Crosses the net not entirely between the net tape, or lands out-of-bounds.
  • Touches the ceiling or any obstruction.
  • When a receiving team player is out of position on the serve and:
  • The ball is served illegally, the serving team is penalized.
  • A service fault occurs, the receiving team is penalized.

  2. Service Penalties

  • For an illegal serve, a service fault, or the receiving team being out of position when there is an illegal serve, side-out is awarded to the receiving team.
  • For the receiving team being out of position when there is a service fault, a point is awarded to the serving team.
  • For a server having a second re-serve during one term of service, a side-out is awarded to the receiving team.

  4. During Play

  • Live and Dead Balls
  • A live ball is one in play, from the moment the ball is legally contacted by the correct server until a dead ball occurs.
  • A dead ball is one declared by an official for any decision temporarily suspending play until the ball is legally contacted for serve.
  • A live ball becomes dead when:
  • The ball does not pass entirely between the net tape.
  • The ball lands out-of-bounds.
  • The ball contacts the ceiling or an overhead obstruction and is not legally played next by the offending team.
  • The ball contacts the ceiling or an overhead obstruction after the third hit.
  • The ball contacts a wall or ceiling obstruction which is over a non-playable area.
  • The ball becomes motionless in the net or on an overhead obstruction.
  • The ball touches the floor.
  • The ball passes completely under the net.

  .

  • The ball contacts a non-player in a playable area.
  • A player or ball breaks the plane of a non-playable area.
  • A player commits a foul.
  • Contacting the Ball
  • A contact is any touch of the ball by a player.
  •  A hit is a contact/touch of the ball which is counted as one of the team's three allowable plays before the ball is returned to the opponent.
  • 
    
  • A team may not have more than 3 hits before the ball crosses the net into the opponent's playing area.
  • When the team's first contact is simultaneous contact by opponents, or an action to block, the next contact is considered the team's first hit.
  • A ball is considered to have crossed the net when:
  • It has passed beyond the vertical plane of the net.
  • It is partially over the net and is contacted by an opponent.
  • No part of the ball has crossed the net and it is legally blocked.
  • Legal contact is a touch of the ball by a player's body above and including the waist which does not allow the ball to visibly come to rest or involve prolonged contact with a player's body.
  • Simultaneous contact is more than one contact of the ball made at the same instant.
  • When one player contacts the ball with two or more parts of the body at the same instant, it is permitted and considered one hit (except for a block which does not count as a hit).
  • When teammates contact the ball at the same instant, it is permitted and considered one hit (except a block which does not count as a hit). Any player may make the next hit.
  • When opposing players contact the ball at the same instant, the player on the opposite side of the net from which the ball falls is considered the player to have touched the ball last. The other player may participate in the next play and the simultaneous contact does not count as a hit.
  • Successive contacts of the ball are two or more separate attempts to play the ball by one player without interrupting contact by a different player between the two plays. A player must not have successive contacts of the ball unless there is:
  • Simultaneous contact by teammates.
  • Simultaneous contact by opposing players.
  • Successive contacts by a player whose first contact is a block; then the second contact counts as the first hit by the player's team.
  • Multiple contacts are more than one contact by a player during one attempt to play the ball. Multiple contacts are permitted only when the ball rebounds from one part of the player's body to one or more other legal parts in one attempt to:
  • Block.
  • Save a hard-driven spike on the team's first hit, provided there is no setting action.

  .In Co-Rec play, if a ball is contacted more than once on a side, it must be hit at least once by a woman.

  PENALTIES FOR ILLEGAL CONTACT

  • Point or side-out is awarded the opponent when:
  • A team has more than 3 hits; or violates the Co-Rec hit rule.
  • There is any illegal contact, successive contacts and/or multiple contacts of the ball.

  VII. DEFINITIONS AND PLAYER ACTIONS

  1. Definitions

  a. Pass - A play in which the ball is hit into the air so another player can get into  position to contact the ball.

  • Forearm Pass - A controlled skill, generally used as a team's first hit, in which the ball rebounds the forearms of the receiver to a teammate.
  • Overhead pass (setting action) - Two-hand finger action directing the ball to a teammate.
  • Set - Two (or one) hand finger action directing the ball to an attacker.
  • Dig - An underhand or overhead defensive saving skill in which the ball is contacted by the forearms, fists, or hands.

  .b. Attack - Any play adding force and/or direction to the ball with the intention of returning the ball to an opponent. A team's third hit is always considered an attack.

  • Spike - an attack play in which the ball is forcibly hit into the opponent's court with a one-hand overhead motion.
  • Tip/Dink - a fingertip attack on the ball which directs the ball into the opponent's court.
  • Dump - a fingertip attack most commonly used by a setter on the second hit.
  • Overhead Pass - two-hand finger action directing the ball over the net.
  • Block - a play approximately arm's length from the net in which a player(s) whose hand(s) is raised above the head, contacts the ball near the top of the net in an attempt to:
  • Prevent the ball from crossing the net, including a served ball.
  • Return the ball immediately.
  • Deflect the motion of the ball.

  2. Player Actions

  • Front line players may contact the ball from any position inside or outside the court except while positioned completely across the center line or its out-of-bounds extension.
  • Back line players while positioned behind the spiking line, may contact the ball from any position inside or outside the court above or below the top of the net.
  • When a back line player, on or in front of the spiking line, contacts the ball which is completely above the height of the net, on a team's first or second hit, directing it to a teammate and an opponent legally contacts the ball before it completely crosses the net, play continues. If the ball completely crosses the net untouched; it is a back line player foul.
  • A back line player may not:
  • Participate in a block or an attempt to block.
  • Return a ball which is completely above the height of the net while positioned:
  • On or in front of the spiking line or its out of bounds extension.
  • In the air, having left the floor on or in front of the spiking line or it’s out-of-bounds extension. (A foul will not be called on a back line player until the ball is considered to have crossed the net.)
  • Play a ball while positioned completely across the center line or it’s out-of-bounds extension.
  • A player may touch the floor across the center line or its out-of bounds extension with one or both feet provided a part of the foot/feet remains on or above the center line. Contacting the floor across the center line or its out-of-bounds extension with any other part of the body is illegal.
  • PENALTIES FOR ILLEGAL PLAYER ACTION: point or side-out is awarded to the opponent for center line foul or back line player foul.

  .VIII. NET PLAY

  • A ball contacting and crossing the net remains in play provided contact is within or above the vertical tape markers and entirely within the net antennas.
  • Recovering a ball hit into the net is permitted.
  • A player may not contact a ball which is completely on the opponent's side of the net unless the contact is a legal block.
  • Blocking a ball which is entirely on the opponent's side of the net is permitted when the opposing team has had an opportunity to complete its attack. The attack is considered complete when the:
  • Attacking team has completed its three allowable hits.
  • Attacking team has had the opportunity to spike the ball or, in the official's judgment, directs the ball with intent to return it to the opponent's court.
  • Ball falling near the net, and in the official's judgment, no member of the attacking team could make a play on the ball.
  • Ball is served.

  .A net foul occurs while the ball is in play and:

  • A player contacts any part of the net including net cables or net tape. It is not a foul when a player's hair touches the net, or the force of a ball hit by an opponent pushes the net into the player.
  • A player gains an advantage by contacting the floor/wall cables, standards or official's platforms.
  • There is dangerous contact by a player with the floor/wall cables, standards, or official's platform.

  .There is interference by a player who makes:

  • Contact with an opponent which interferes with the opponent's legitimate effort to play the ball.
  • Intentional contact with a ball which the opponent has caused to pass partially under the net and the opponent is attempting to play it again.

  .PENALTIES FOR ILLEGAL NET PLAY: For a net foul or over-the-net foul, point or side-out is awarded to the opponent.

  .IX. FOULS

  • A foul is a failure to play as permitted by the rules.
  • A double foul occurs when opposing players commit rule violations at the same instant.
  • A multiple foul occurs when the same team commits more than one violation of a single rule at the same instant during play or dead ball.
  • A simultaneous foul occurs when a team violates more than one rule at the same instant during play or dead ball.
  • A double hit occurs when a player's successive or multiple contacts are illegal.
  • A foot fault occurs when a player violates the serving area or center line restrictions.

  PENALTIES FOR FOULS:

  • For a single foul, point or side-out is awarded the opponent.
  • For a double foul during a:
  • Live ball play, a replay is called.
  • Dead ball, the penalty is assessed against the serving team followed by the receiving team with both teams rotating.
  • For a multiple foul, only one penalty is assessed (point, side-out or charged time-out)

  For a simultaneous foul during a:

  • Live ball play, only one penalty is assessed.
  • Dead ball, all applicable penalties are assessed.

  XI. OUT-OF-BOUNDS

  • A ball is out of bounds and becomes dead when it:
  • Touches a wall, objects mounted flush with a wall, or objects on the floor outside the court without interfering with a player's legitimate effort to play the ball.
  • Touches the floor completely outside the court's boundary lines.
  • Touches the net cables or net completely outside the vertical tape markers, net supports, or official's platform.
  • Touches the net tape or does not pass over the net entirely between the vertical tape markers.
  • Touches a non-player who is not interfering with a player's legitimate effort to play the ball.
  • Touches the ceiling or overhead obstructions beyond the vertical plane of the net and its out-of-bounds extension.
  • Touches or breaks the plane of non-playable area such as adjacent courts scheduled for play, bleachers, officials' table, etc.
  • Touches any part of a backboard which is hanging in a vertical position, over a playable area if in the judgment of the official, the ball would not have remained in play if the backboard had not been there.
  1.  
     • PENALTY FOR OUT-OF BOUNDS: Point or side-out is awarded the opponent.