VOLLEYBALL RULES

Men, Women, Co-Rec

General Information

The NFHS Rules will be used with Tulane University modifications.
Participants are subject to all of the policies and procedures in the Intramural Handbook.
Games will consist of 2 teams, 6 players per team.
1. Co-rec teams must have 3 women on the court at all times.
2. Games may start with 4 players, Co-Rec 2 must be women.

Equipment

All participants should wear proper recreational attire. This includes t-shirts, gym shorts, wind or sweat pants, and athletic closed toe shoes.
Jewelry or sun glasses shall not be worn.
Headwear that contains knots, hard or stiff material including billed hats are prohibited.
Any hard braces must be covered and padded.
Participants wearing casts are prohibited from intramural play.
The final determination regarding legal equipment will be made by the Intramural Supervisor present at the game.
The official ball will be a regulation indoor leather volleyball will be used.
Net height men’s game 8’, women’s and co-rec game 7’4”

Game Regulations

A match will consist of the best 2 out of 3 games won in a 50 minute time limit.
The games will be played to 21 points the third game will be played to 15 points.
Games will be rally scoring with a point scored on every serve.
All games must be won by 2 points or the first team to 25 points.
Each team is allowed two 30 second time out per game. Time outs will not carry over from game to game.
There will be a one minute intermission between the first and second game and a 3 minute intermission between the second and third game.
The home team or higher seed will chose one of the following options:
1. Serving the ball or
2. Side of court.
At the start of the second game the visiting team or lower seed shall serve or defend whichever they did not do at the start of the game.
Teams switch ends at the start each game.
The home team is determined by whatever team is listed first on the schedule.
A coin toss will determine what team will have choice of serving the ball or side of court.

Player Positions

The position of players in order of the serve shall be Right Back (server), Right Front, Center Front, Left Front, Left Back, and Center Back.
At the moment of Serve:
1. All players, except the server, shall 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.
2. All players must be in the correct serving order. Each right side player must have at least part of one foot touching the floor closer to the right sideline than both feet of the center player in the corresponding row (except the server and the center back player). Each left side player must have at least part of one foot touching the floor closer to the left sideline than both feet of the center player in the corresponding row. Each front row player must have at least part of one foot touching the floor closer to the center line than both feet of the corresponding back row player.
When the serve is awarded to a team, they shall 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:
1. For illegal alignment, point/side-out is awarded the opponent for:

i. Overlapping by players other than the server at the moment of a legal serve occurs.

ii. 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 shall be 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 shall be canceled.

i. 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 shall be canceled. No further penalty is assessed.

ii. When an improper server is not discovered until after the serve has alternated and the first serve has been contacted, there shall be no cancellation of points, and no penalty is assessed.

iii. Proper serving order as written on the score sheet shall be regained immediately.

iv. 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. A potential screen exists when players on the serving team wave arms, jumps, or stands close to the server and the ball is served over that player. A potential screen exists when a group of two or more teammates stand close together and the ball is served over them. PENALTY: A side-out and point is awarded the opponent.

Substitutions

The continuous substitution rule will be in effect. The right forward will drop off the court at each rotation, and the next substitute will enter the game as the right back (server).
The lineup will be stated before the start of the game. Once a service has been delivered no more subs may enter the game should they arrive late, if a complete rotation of players have entered the game. Exception: Should a team begin with only 4 or 5 players, they may add players at any time during the match with this person entering as the server.
Co-Rec: 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.
1. For the serving team, any points known to have been scored on this term of service while the illegal substitute was in the game shall be canceled.
2. 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, shall be canceled.
3. After the serve has alternated and the first serve is contacted, there shall be no cancellation of points.
4. In all cases, the illegal substitute must enter legally or be replaced by a legal player.

Lineup

A team captain from each team shall submit in writing to the scorer an accurate roster giving names and numbers of all players, including substitutes in serving order.
The written lineup shall not be changed except to replace a starting player who is injured/ill prior to the start of the match, or between games of a match.
Each game, a team captain from each team shall: Submit to the scorer any changes in the starting serving order from the previous game. This will constitute the serving order recorded on the score sheet.
Co-rec lineup must have a female and male alternating severs. Exception when games are played with the minimum number of participants. Teams will not have to alternate male female severs.
PENALTIES in accurate lineup:
1. Failure to submit to the scorer before the first game a written accurate roster including player’s names and numbers results in a point/side-out being awarded the opponent when the inaccuracy is discovered. The roster shall be corrected.
2. Failure to verbally notify the scorer that the lineup will remain the same or submit a complete and written, accurate numeric lineup to the scorer when there are changes in the lineup prior to the start of the next game results in a point/side-out being awarded the opponent at the start of the next game.
3. Failure to list a player/substitute entering the game results in a point/side-out being awarded the opponent, and the player/substitute may enter the game after the roster is corrected.

The Serve

The act of putting the ball into play by the player in the right back position who hits the ball with one hand (open or closed) or any part of one arm in an effort to direct the ball into the opponent's team area.

After being clearly released or thrown from the hand(s) of the server, the ball shall be cleanly hit for service (EXCEPTION: If, after releasing or tossing the ball for service, the server allows the ball to fall to the floor without being hit or contacted, the service effort shall be canceled and a re-serve directed. However, the referee will not allow the game to be delayed in this manner more than one time during any term of service).
At the instant the ball is contacted for service, the server shall not have any portion of the body in contact with the end line, the court or the playing area outside the lines marking the width of the service area.
The service is considered good if the ball passes over the net without touching other objects.
If the ball is served before the referee's whistle for service, the serve shall be canceled and a re-serve directed. A second occasion during a game by the same player results in a loss of service.
Serving Faults: The referee will signal a change of service to the other team when one of the following serving faults occur:
1. The ball passes under the net.
2. The ball does not pass completely over the net.
3. The ball touches a player of the serving team or any object before i.e. ceiling, backboard supports entering the opponent's team area.
4. The ball lands outside the limits of the opponent's team court.
5. If the ball touches the net while going over on the serve, the serve is legal and not a serve fault.
Serving Out of Order: If a team serves out of order, it loses the service and any points gained while serving erroneously provided it is discovered before the opponent’s serve. The players of the team at fault must immediately resume their correct position on the court.
Service in Subsequent Games: The team not serving first in the preceding game of a match shall serve first in the next game.
Change of Service: The team receiving the ball for service shall rotate one position clockwise before serving.
Illegal Serve: A serve is illegal and the ball remains dead if the server:
1. Hits the ball illegally
2. Is touching the end line or the floor outside the serving area when the ball is contacted
3. Does not contact the ball to serve within 8 seconds
4. Is out of serving order or is from the wrong team
5. Deliberately serves before the referee’s signal to begin the serve
6. Releases the ball for service, then catches it or drops it to the floor more than once during one term of service.

Live Ball/Dead Ball

A live ball is in play from the moment of legal contact on the serve.
A live ball becomes dead when:
1. The ball touches the net antennas, the net outside the antennas or does not pass entirely between the antennas.
2. The ball lands out of bounds, passes under the net or touches the floor.
3. The ball touches the ceiling or an overhead obstruction on the third hit or the ball is played over the net.
4. A ball or a player breaks the plane of a non-playable area.
5. A player commits a foul.
6. An official blows a whistle.

Out of Bounds

A ball is out of bounds and becomes dead when:

1. It touches a wall or objects on a wall.

2. It touches the floor or objects on the floor completely outside the court's boundary lines.

3. It touches the net antennas, the net outside the antennas or does not pass over the net entirely between the antennas.

4. It touches a non-player or the referee.

5. It touches the ceiling over the opponent's playing area.

6. It enters a non-playable area (adjacent courts)

The referee will stop play for ball out of bounds and will award a point and side out to the opponent.

Contacting the Ball

A contact is any touch of the ball by a player (excluding a player's loose hair)
A team shall have no more than 3 hits before the ball crosses the net into the opponent’s playing area. A block does not count as a team hit.
Co-Rec Variation: If a ball is contacted more than once on a side one hit must be made by a female.
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 or 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 that does not allow the ball to visibly come to rest or involve prolonged contact with a player's body.
A joust occurs when two opponents cause the ball to come to rest above the net through simultaneous contact. A joust is not a foul and play continues.
Multiple contacts are more than one contact by a player during one attempt to play the ball. Multiple contacts are permitted and counted as one hit only when the first ball over the net rebounds from one part of a player's body to other parts in one attempt to block or on any first team hit, whether or not the ball is touched by the block.
Simultaneous contact is more than one contact of the ball made at the same instant. When a player contacts the ball with one or more parts of the body at the same instant, it is considered one hit. When teammates contact the ball at the same instant it is considered one hit and 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 shall be considered the player who touched the ball last.
Successive contacts of the ball are two or more separate attempts to play the ball by one player with no interrupting contact by a different player. A player shall not have successive contacts unless there is simultaneous contact or successive contacts by a player whose first contact is a block.
PENALTIES FOR ILLEGAL CONTACT: Point or side out awarded to the opponent.
1. A team has more than 3 hits; or violates the Co-Rec hit rule.
2. There is any illegal contact, successive contacts and/or multiple contacts of the ball.

Player Action

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

a. 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.

b. Overhead pass (setting action) - two-hand finger action directing the ball to a teammate.

c. Dig- An underhand or overhead defensive saving skill in which the ball is contacted by the forearms, fists, or hands.

d. 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.

e. Tip/Dink - a fingertip attack on the ball which directs the ball into the opponent’s court.

f. Dump - a fingertip attack most commonly used by a setter on the second hit.

g. Overhead Pass - two-hand finger action directing the ball over the net.

2. 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:

a. prevent the ball from crossing the net, including a served ball;

b. return the ball immediately;

c. Deflect the motion of the ball.

Front Row Players

Front row players may contact the ball from anywhere on the court provided the ball has not completely crossed the vertical plane of the net or the net extended.

Back Row Players

Back row players, while positioned behind the attack line, may contact the ball from any position on the court above or below the top of the net.
When a back row player, on or in front of the attack line, contacts the ball which is completely above the height of the net on a team's first or second hit and an opponent legally contacts the ball before it completely crosses the vertical plane of the net, play continues even if the ball is hit back into the back row player. If the ball completely crosses the vertical plane of the net untouched it is a back row player foul.
A back row player may not participate in a block/attempt to block, or attack a ball which is completely above the height of the net after having jumped from on or in front of the attack line. A back row player foul is not called until the ball has crossed the net.
PENALTIES FOR BACK ROW PLAYER FOULS: Point or side out for the opponent.

Net Play

1. A ball contacting and crossing the net will remain in play provided contact is entirely within net antennas.

2. A player can recover a ball hit into the net.

3. A player may not contact a ball that is completely on the opponent's side of the net unless that contact is a legal block. Reaching over the net is illegal.

4. A player may touch the floor across the centerline with one or both feet/hands provided a part of the foot/feet or hand remains on or above the centerline. Contacting the floor across the centerline with any other part of the body is considered illegal.

5. A net foul occurs when the ball is in play and a player contacts any part of the net, including net cables and antennas. It is not a foul when a player's hair touches the net or the force of the ball pushes the net into a player. It is also a net foul when a player contacts an opponent and interferes with their effort to play the ball.

6. PENALTIES FOR ILLEGAL NET PLAY: Point and side out awarded to the opponent.

Blocking

Blocking the ball that 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 opposing team has had three hits, the attacking team has had the opportunity to spike the ball or directs the ball with the intention of returning it to the opponent, or the ball is falling near the net and in the official's judgment, no member of the attacking team could play the ball.
Blocking a serve is not permitted.
A ball may be attacked, excluding a served ball, when it has partially crossed the net.
PENALTIES FOR ILLEGAL BLOCKING: Point and side out awarded to the opponent.

Fouls

1. A foul is a failure to play as permitted by the rules.

2. A double foul occurs when opposing players commit rule violations at the same time.

3. A double hit occurs when a player's successive or multiple contacts are illegal.

4. A foot fault occurs when a player violates the serving area or centerline restrictions.

5. PENALTIES FOR FOULS: For a single foul (double hit, foot fault, etc.) point and side out is awarded to the opponent. For a double foul during a live ball play, a replay is called. For a double foul during a dead ball, the penalty is assessed to both teams, with both teams rotating.

Replay

A replay is the act of putting the ball in play without awarding a point or side out or rotating for the serve. A replay is awarded when:

An official's mistaken whistle interrupts play.
A player unintentionally serves prior to the referee's signal to serve.
There is a double foul during a live ball.
There are conflicting calls which the referee cannot resolve.
A player's legitimate effort to play the ball is affected by a non-player in a playable area or by the ball becoming motionless in the net inside the net antennas or on an overhead obstruction over a playable area.
Play is interrupted because a foreign object enters the proximity of the playing area, or a player is injured.
The ball contacts a backboard or its supports hanging in a vertical position over a playable area and in the judgment of the official the ball would have remained in play had the backboard not been there.

Red and Yellow Card System:

A Yellow/Red card system will be used to control unsportsmanlike conduct and improper behavior, persistent infringement of any rules of the game by player, coach and bench personnel.
When cautioning a player, coach, or other bench personnel, the official shall display a Yellow card and indicate the person concerned.
The second yellow card displayed on the same person in the same contest for any unsportsmanlike conduct shall be a Red card.
When ejecting a player, coach, or other bench personnel the official shall display a Red card and indicate the person concerned. A player, coach, or other bench personnel receiving a Red card shall be ejected from the game and will be suspended from the next scheduled game.
A player that is ejected cannot be substituted for, the team must play a player down.
Any player ejected from the game must leave the playing area and is not permitted to watch the reminder of the game.
Should the same player receive 2 red cards throughout the soccer intramural season they will be suspended from the volleyball league for a year.
Team captains are responsible for the conduct of their players, sidelines, and spectators.
1. If a player is red carded and refuses to tell his/her name, the captain may be red carded if he/she will not reveal the name and the team may be subject to a forfeit.
2. Team captains who cannot or will not control their sidelines and/or spectators will be issued a caution (yellow card), and ejection (red card) if necessary.
Yellow Card
1. Persistently infringes upon any of the rules of the game.
2. Shows dissent by word of mouth or action to decisions given by the referee.
3. Is guilty of any incidental vulgar or profane language.
4. Is guilty of unsportsmanlike conduct.
5. Enters or leaves the field of play without the permission of the referee.
6. Other team members, besides the captain, address the officials and question their calls.
7. Too many players on the field or not the correct amount of women on the field.
Red Card
1. Revives a second yellow card.
2. Is guilty of violent conduct or serious foul play.
3. Is abusive in language or gesture toward a player or official.
4. Persists in misconduct after receiving a caution.
5. Destruction or abuse of Reily Center property.
6. Fighting.
7. If the player is ejected from the game.
8. If the officials or supervisor deems necessary.