Volleyball

Volleyball is a popular sport that is played at many levels, including high school, collegiate, and Olympic as well as the professional level. Although the rules of volleyball differ from level to level, nearly all echelons of the sport follow some basic rules. The serve, the actual volley of the ball back and forth between the opposing sides, the scoring and violations are all covered by a set of basic rules.

Play proceeds as follows: a player on one of the teams begins a rally by attempting to serve the ball (tossing or releasing it and then hitting it with a hand or arm), from behind the back boundary line of the court, over the net and into the receiving team's court. The receiving team must not let the ball touch their court; they may touch the ball as many as three times, typically using the first two touches to set up for an attack, an attempt to direct the ball back over the net in such a way that the serving team is unable to prevent it from touching their court. The rally continues in the same manner, with each team allowed as many as three consecutive touches, until either (1): a team makes a kill, grounding the ball on the opponent's court, thus winning the rally; or (2): a team commits a fault, thus losing the rally. The team that wins the rally is awarded a point, and serves the ball to start the next rally. The complete rules are extensive; a few of the most common faults include:

• causing the ball to touch the ground outside the opponents' court or without first passing over the net;
• catching and throwing the ball;
• double hit: two consecutive contacts with the ball made by the same player;
• four consecutive contacts with the ball made by the same team.

The ball is usually played with the hands or arms, but players can legally strike or push (short contact) the ball with any part of the body.

Court and Equipment: The standard volleyball court is 30 feet wide by 60 feet long. This court area is divided in half to form sides for each team. Within each half, lines are marked to designate the attack line, which is marked 10 feet from the center dividing line of the court. The volleyball net is set at 8 feet in height for men and 7 feet, 4 inches for women's games. The net supports are placed 3 feet outside the baseline at the center of the court for a total extended net length of 36 feet. A regulation volleyball must weigh between 9 to 10 ounces.

Game Basics: Each team consists of four to six players that rotate clockwise through the available positions on their side of the net. The team rotates with each serve and no person can serve more than once in succession. Games are played to a total of 25 points with play continuing until one team wins by two points or more. Volleyball rules allow for "best of" matches of three to five games. Each team is allowed to hit the ball three times on their side of the side before returning the ball over the net. A player cannot hit the ball more than once during the time the ball in on his or her side of the net. Volleyball rules prevent players from carrying, palming or throwing the ball. The first serve of a game is determined by volleying the ball back and forth. Players are permitted to play the ball of the net during a volley and serve. Front attack players are allowed to switch positions after the opponent has served.

Serving: Volleyball rules for serving begin with player positioning behind the end lines of the court. Serves can be either underhand or overhand and should clear the top of the net, although grazing the net is allowed. During serves, the volleyball should be visible to the opponents at all times. Serves should be returned by a bump hit to encourage volleying. Players are not permitted to set up or attacked on return serve volleys. Any serve that touches the net and then drops over the net onto the opposing court is ruled good and is worth a point.

Volley Rules: The ball cannot be hit by a team more than three times before getting it back over the net and to the opposing side. A player by rule is not allowed to hit the ball twice in sequence. When two or more hit the ball at the same time, it is considered to be one hit; however, the players who were involved cannot touch the ball until it has been hit again by their side. A volleyball that hits the net can be played, and a ball that hits a boundary line is considered to be in bounds. Serves cannot be blocked at the net, and the definition of a legal hit or "touch" is when a player makes contact and the ball does not come to be at rest.  

Scoring: Teams score points when the volleyball hits the ground both inside and outside the volleyball court. Some common methods of scoring include setting up hits to aim at the weaker players on the team, aiming for vacant areas on the court or spiking the ball close in to the opponent's side of the net.

Violations: It is against the rules to step on the line while serving the ball. This results in a violation and gives the ball to the other side to serve. A serve that does not make it over the net is a violation, as is hitting the ball in an illegal manner---such as palming it or carrying it, which means being in contact with the ball too long after actually hitting it. A player cannot touch the net with any part of his or her body when the ball is in play. It is illegal to reach over the volleyball net except when following through on a hit or when trying to block a ball being returned from the opposing side's court.