Volleyball Rules and Gameplay: Scoring, Fouls, and Strategy
Volleyball Rules and Gameplay
Court Dimensions and Setup
The net height is 2.43m for men. The field of play is a rectangle of 18 x 9 m, surrounded by a free zone of at least 3 m wide on all sides. The free play space is the space above the playing area free of obstructions and must be not less than 7 m in height from the floor.
Objective of the Game
The object is to send the ball over the net to the opponent’s side, preventing them from doing the same. The team has three touches to return the ball (in addition to a block).
Team Composition
A team may consist of a maximum of 12 players, a coach, an assistant coach, and a medical massage therapist.
Role of the Team Captain
During the match, the team captain acts as a game captain while playing. When the team captain is not playing, the coach or team captain must assign another player on the field, except the Libero, to fulfill that role. This game captain will keep his powers until he is replaced, the team captain returns, or the end of the set.
Role of the Coach
Throughout the match, the coach leads his team’s play from outside of the court. They select the initial lineup, make substitutions, and call for timeouts. In these functions, their official contact is the second referee.
Scoring
A team scores a point by winning a rally. When the receiving team wins a rally, it scores a point and earns the right to serve. The team rotates one position clockwise after winning the serve.
A team scores a point when:
- The ball lands on the opponent’s court.
- The opposing team commits a fault.
- The opposing team receives a penalty.
Faults
A team commits a fault when it performs an action contrary to the game rules (or violates them in some other manner). The referees judge the faults and determine their consequences in accordance with these rules.
- If two or more faults are committed successively, only the first is taken into account.
- If two or more offenses are committed simultaneously by two opponents, a “double fault” is declared, and the rally is replayed.
Winning a Set
A set (except the deciding 5th set) is won by the team that first scores 25 points, with a minimum lead of two points.
Winning the Match
The match is played to five sets. The team that wins three sets wins the match. In case of a tie at 2-2, the deciding set (5th) is played to 15 points with a minimum difference of two points.
Determining the First Server
Before the game, the first referee conducts a coin toss to determine who will serve first and which side of the court each team will occupy in the first set. If a deciding set is needed, a new draw will be conducted. The draw is conducted in the presence of the two team captains. The winner of the toss chooses either the right to serve or receive the serve, or the side of the field.
Player Positions
The positions of the players are numbered as follows:
- The three players placed in front of the net are the front-row players and occupy positions 4 (front left), 3 (front center), and 2 (front right).
- The other three are back-row players and occupy positions 5 (left back), 6 (back center), and 1 (right back).
Positional Faults
The team commits a positional fault if a player is not in the correct position when the server hits the ball. If the server commits a serving fault at the moment of the service hit, the serving fault takes precedence over the positional fault. If the serve becomes faulty after the hit, the positional fault is to be punished.
Player Substitutions
Substitutions require the permission of the referees. A substitution is the act by which a player, having been recorded by the scorer, enters the game to occupy the position of another player, who must leave the playing field (except the Libero).
Maximum Number of Substitutions
A maximum of six substitutions per team per set is allowed. One or more players can be substituted at once.
- A player of the starting lineup may leave the game (only once in the set) and re-enter, but only once per set and only to their previous position in the lineup.
- A substitute may enter the game, but only once in the set, to replace a player of the starting lineup and, in turn, can be replaced only by the player he replaces.
Expelled or Disqualified Players
A player expelled or disqualified must be substituted by a legal substitution. If this is not possible, the team is declared incomplete.
Ball “Out”
The ball is “out” when:
- The part of the ball that touches the ground is completely outside the lines demarcating the court.
- It touches an object outside the court, the roof, or a person who is not in play.
- It touches the antennae, ropes, poles, or the net itself outside of the side bands.
- It crosses the net’s vertical plane completely or partially outside the crossing space.
- It crosses completely the lower space under the net.
Assisted Hit
Within the playing area, a player is not allowed to be supported by a teammate or any structure/object to reach the ball. However, a player who is about to commit a fault (touch the net, penetrate the opponent’s court, etc.) may be stopped or held back by a teammate.
Attack
Offensive play includes the collective efforts of a team and the individual offensive efforts (top) of a player for a rally. A team without a strong attack cannot succeed, but a team with a strong attack can win.
Blocking
Objective: To intercept the ball, making it attacked either in the opponent’s court to get a point or pushed up and back toward the area of defense on their own field.