Volleyball Rules: Officials, Rotations, and the Libero Role
Timeouts and Warm-ups
During timeouts, players go to the free zone near their respective benches to receive instructions from the coach. Substitute players can warm up without balls in the designated warm-up area, typically behind the baseline.
Volleyball Officiating Team
The refereeing team in a volleyball match consists of several officials:
- First Referee: Sits or stands on a referee’s platform by one of the posts, providing a clear view over the net (approximately 50 cm above). This official directs the match: they authorize service to start each rally, decide points and faults, determine ball possession, and signal the end of play. The first referee is the only official authorized to issue sanctions (warnings and penalties via cards).
- Second Referee: Stands on the ground near the post opposite the first referee, between the team benches and facing the scorer’s table. They manage substitutions, control timeouts and intervals, monitor team bench conduct and the warm-up areas. During play, they check player positions according to the rotational order, control substitutions, and assist the first referee by signaling faults such as net touches, centerline violations, illegal back-row attacks or blocks, and rotational errors.
- Scorer: Sits at the scorer’s table, located on the side opposite the first referee. The scorer is responsible for recording the score, tracking substitutions and timeouts, monitoring the serving order of both teams, and notifying the second referee of any rotational errors, illegal substitutions, or improper requests.
- Assistant Scorer: Sits beside the scorer at the scorer’s table. Their duties often include operating a manual or electronic scoreboard and tracking libero replacements. In specific competitions (e.g., CEV), they might manage the electronic scoresheet.
- Line Judges (2 or 4): Positioned at the corners of the court (if four) or diagonally across corners (if two). Their primary function is to signal whether a ball lands inside or outside the court boundaries using flags. They also signal foot faults during service, if the ball touches the antennae, or if the ball crosses the net outside the antennae. They may assist the referees by signaling if a player touched the ball before it went out of bounds.
While each official has specific duties, the First Referee holds the ultimate authority over the match and can overrule other officials if necessary.
Team Composition and Player Roles
Each team plays with six players on the court at a time. Substitutions can be made under specific conditions. Three players are positioned in the front row (primarily responsible for attacking and blocking) and three are in the back row (primarily responsible for defense, serve reception, and setting).
A full team roster can include up to 14 players (typically 12 regular players plus up to 2 specialized players called liberos), a coach, an assistant coach, a team therapist, and a team doctor. Each player is identified by a unique number (rules may specify a range, e.g., 1-20) displayed on both the front and back of their jersey. One player is designated as the team captain and is identified by a stripe or band under their jersey number. The libero cannot serve as the team captain and must wear a jersey that clearly contrasts in color with the jerseys of the rest of the team.
Rotations
When a team wins a rally after the opposing team served (a side-out), they gain the right to serve. Before serving, the players of the team that just won the right to serve must rotate one position clockwise on the court. This rotation ensures that all players cycle through both front-row and back-row positions.
The rotational alignment must be correct at the moment the ball is served. This means each front-row player must have at least part of one foot closer to the centerline than the corresponding back-row player, and each right-side/left-side player must have at least part of one foot closer to their respective sideline than the center player in their row. Specific geometric positioning isn’t required beyond these relative placements. Once the ball is served, players can move freely around their side of the court and the free zone.
These rules allow for diverse starting formations and significant strategic flexibility. Before the start of each set, the coach must submit the starting lineup (rotational order) for that set to the scorer or the second referee.
The six court positions are often referred to by numbers 1 through 6, starting with position 1 in the back-right (the serving position) and proceeding counter-clockwise through position 6 (back-left).
Libero
A team may designate up to two specialized defensive players called liberos on their roster for a match. The libero is a player specialized in defensive skills, particularly serve reception and back-court defense. They can replace any back-row player without prior notification to the officials; these replacements occur between rallies when the ball is out of play.
The libero role was introduced partly because primary attackers are often tall and may be less specialized in back-court defensive skills. The libero helps strengthen a team’s serve reception and overall defense.
Libero Restrictions:
- Cannot serve.
- Cannot block or attempt to block.
- Cannot complete an attack hit from anywhere if, at the moment of contact, the entire ball is above the top of the net.
- Cannot set the ball using an overhand finger pass while positioned in front of the attack line (the 3-meter line) if that set leads directly to an attack hit completed while the ball is entirely above the top of the net.