2003 GSA Volleyball Rules

Please read and digest this whole document. It may look long but it really isn't. Everyone on your team is responsible for knowing what the rules of our league are.15

The rules have changed since last year, so make sure that you understand the new rules.

Rule Highlights

The following rule highlights are emphasized here because some people find them surprising. 

  1. All games will be rally scoring (This is different from last year). This means that every serve results in a point for the team that won the rally, regardless of who served.
  2. Each game is to be played to 21 points but must be won by at least two points. However, the first team to 23 wins , regardless of the score. (This is different from last year). This rule is not negotiable by the team captains. Examples:
  3. Serving is permitted from anywhere behind the back line. A player may not, however, serve from beyond the sides of the court.
  4. Serves which hit the net are still good. (This is different from last year)
  5. A player may hit the ball with any part of his/her body (including the feet). Also, do not kick the ball for any reason outside of game play. This can permanently warp the ball, and also might injure someone.
  6. A player may double-contact the ball when receiving the serve, as well as on any first ball over the net. A "first ball over the net" is any time the ball travels from one team's side of the court to the other. A "double-contact" is when the ball strikes a player quickly, twice in succession, during a single attempt to hit the ball. (For example, a hard serve might bounce off a player's arms and then hit him/her in the face and then bounce into the air. This would not be a fault if it is the first ball over the net.) 
  7. Games start promptly on the hour. Teams should arrive at least ten minutes beforehand to warm up. Lateness might cause your team to forfeit a game or the whole match.
  8. Finger action is permitted when receiving a serve.

Rules

The following comments reflect only a subset of all the rules governing play. Many of the most obvious rules have been omitted. Some of these rules are official USAV and some are local IM/GSA rules.

NOTE: In all cases, the decision of the commissioners is final.

  1. Rights and Duties

    1. Time-outs: Requests may be made by either playing captain when the ball is dead. Each team is allowed a maximum of two time-outs per game (and therefore, a maximum of six time-outs per match, provided the match consists of three games) and each is limited to 30 seconds. Unused time-outs from one game cannot be "saved" or "rolled over" for use in another game. The players may not leave the court during a time-out. Of course, a team is not required to use any time-outs.
    2. Conduct: The rule here is simply "be polite," or equivalently, "don't be a jerk." Examples of unacceptable behavior include (but are not limited to):
      • Distracting players on the other team
      • Blocking someone's line-of-sight to the server
      • Clapping your hands when an opponent hits the ball
      • Shouting potentially misleading directives at the other team (like "out" or "in")
      • Failing to call your own violations
      Also, if you are practicing spikes on the center court, you must have people on your team responsible for stopping them to avoid interrupting play on the outer courts. During actual game play, we don't require this (but it is nice if you happen to have extra people).

      IMPORTANT: During practices on the center court, if you do not have people stopping the spike shrapnel from affecting other courts, you will be asked to stop spiking.

      Sorry the courts are so close together. There's not much I can do about this.

    3. Calling Penalties: We have no officials in this league, so please call your own violations. Do not wait for the other team to do it. If the existence of a violation cannot be resolved, replay the point. The game is most fun when played honestly and by the rules.

      Gratuitously stressing the previous point: when you touch the net, or "carry" the ball, or commit some other violation, please call your own violation. The other team will respect you immensely for it, and this will most likely lead to a torrid life-altering romance with someone on the opposing team, who heretofore had given up on his/her lifelong quest to find a person of integrity.

    4. Punctuality: Games must end five minutes before the hour, REGARDLESS of what the score is or how many games have been played or when your team got to take the court. It is the responsibility of the teams playing to stop on time. Similarly, it is the absolute right of those teams about to play to stop them on time.

      This point cannot be stressed enough, so I will stress it again: YOU MUST LEAVE THE COURT AT FIVE MINUTES BEFORE THE HOUR NO MATTER WHAT. It doesn't matter how "close" or intense your game is. If, for example, the score is 14-14 at five minutes before the hour, then your game is a draw.

      The next team has until the hour to warm up (including spiking drills). Start your game on the hour. If you haven't finished your spike drills, too bad. Also, please leave the court when your allotted time is up. If your match is over before the allotted time (e.g. your three games were played very quickly or there was a forfeit) you may continue to play for fun until the allotted time is up.

      Take no more than two minutes between games. This is where lots of time is wasted. Hurry up!

    5. Helping Out: I may ask teams scheduled to play first to arrive slightly early to help set up the nets. Likewise, I may ask teams scheduled to play last to help take down the nets.
    6. Scoring: Keep score and announce it before each service. Since there is no official scorekeeper, it is up to you and the other team to remain in sync about what the score is. At the end of each game, be sure to record the score on the sheet near your court. If a game must be stopped in the middle, it counts as a game if at least one team has scored more than half the winning score.
    7. Substitutions: You may use either one of the following schemes, and you must use the same scheme throughout an entire game.
      1. (USAV) A player starting the game may be replaced three times and can reenter thrice, but must return to the original position in the rotation. There may be a maximum of two players for any one position. There will be 12 such substitutions allowed per game.
      2. (GSA) You may rotate a new player into a certain position at each rotation. This player must come from a queue of waiting players which is fed by another player rotating out. For example, you might have an "extra" player rotate into the serving position at each rotation, as the right forward player rotates out and enters the queue.
    8. Number of players: A team must have at least 6 and no more than 15 on their roster. In order to play a game a team must have at least four players present. Six players are on the court at one time.
    9. Forfeits: If a team is not ready to play on the hour, they will forfeit one game. If at ten minutes after the hour, the team is still not prepared to begin, the rest of the match will be forfeited as well. If a team forfeits, they can still play, but scores don't count.

      The problem with forfeits is that it is a huge inconvenience for your opponents, who have shown up and don't have anyone to play against. The Commissioner may eject a team from the league if they repeatedly forfeit.

      If you know in advance that your team can't make it, you can avoid a forfeit by requesting a "bye"; see below .Even if it's not a week beforehand, if you know that you won't have a time there, please let the commisioner and the other team know! You may still get the forfeit, but you avoid wasting the other team's time.

    10. Byes: If you notify the commissioner by the Monday before, you will get a bye and not have a game scheduled.
    11. Scheduling: I will have the schedule out by Tuesday afternoon each week. I reserve the right to make schedule changes without asking you until Wednesday evening. After that, I will ask the team captain for permission before changing. In any case I will send you email if the schedule changes.
    12. Autonomous schedule shuffling: If you're in danger of forfeiting a game and the schedule has already gone out, you may negotiate schedule alterations with other captains. You can use our official bboard for this purpose, or you can use other means of communication. I'm pretty flexible about this, but the key is: all affected parties must agree. If you can't get every affected party to agree, your team will have to eat the forfeit.
      • Example:You have a scheduled game at 7 that you're going to miss. You might ask a friendly captain playing at 6pm if that team is willing to play twice (playing their normal game at 6 and playing your scheduled opponents at 7). Whatever you captains work out is fine with me, but: everyone affected must agree to the changes and you need to tell me so I can fix the score sheets and computer stuff.
  2. Rules of Play

    1. Match: A match will consist of three games. All three games are important and will contribute to the standings. Even if you win the first two, you should play all three, because total point count contributes to your standings as well as games won. If there is not enough time, a match consists of the number of games played in your time slot, not exceeding three.
    2. Game:IMPORTANT:Each game is to be played to 21 points but must be won by at least two points. However, the first team to 23 wins, regardless of the score. This rule is not negotiable by the team captains.

      Before the first game, captains will toss a coin. The winner can choose either (a) first serve, or (b) playing area (which side of the court to start on). The loser chooses the remaining option. Before the second game, first serve and playing area will switch. If a third game is required, another toss is made. During the 3rd game, teams may also switch areas after one team wins 6 points if requested by either captain. If a coin cannot be found, the captains may play scissors-paper-rock or with any other method agreed upon by the captains .

    3. Service:
      1. The player making the serve may not have either foot touching the court or outside the serving area when the ball is hit. The serving area is considered anywhere beyond the back line and within the (extension of the) side lines. For a jump serve, this holds for the last place the foot touched before leaving the ground.
      2. The ball must be clearly hit (not thrown) after releasing or tossing it. The ball must be hit with one hand or with any other part of the arm.
      3. All other players must be within their own court and in their normal rotation order (they may switch after the ball is served).
      4. The served ball can touch the net.
      5. The opposing team may not block or spike the serve.
      6. The opposing team may return the serve with a bump or set. Finger action is permitted when receiving a serve. Double-contacts (which occur as part of a single attempt to play the ball) are permitted on the serve (as well as on any first ball over the net).
    4. Each team is allowed a maximum of three hits to return the ball. A block is not counted as one of these hits. Multiple contacts (or with multiple people) are still considered blocks and are not counted towards the three hits.
    5. Hitting the ball: A ball is considered held (illegal) if it visibly comes to rest momentarily in the hands or arms of a player. The ball should be hit so that it rebounds cleanly after contact. Scooping, lifting, pushing, or carrying is illegal. Do not play the ball with an open hand below the waist or behind the head.

      Defining exactly what a "carry" is, is a subtle task beyond the abilities of this author. A good rule of thumb is: your contact with the ball should be virtually instantaneous. Extended contact with the ball (pushing, lifting, redirecting, scooping, etc) is probably a carry. Also, any move that looks like it belongs more naturally in basketball or Jai-Alai is probably illegal. Try to use your best judgement as to what carries are.

      Successive contact ("double-contact") is allowed only during a single attempt to make the first team contact, which includes service receives, spikes, bumps, or any other time where it is the first contact after the ball has crossed the plane of the net from the other side. (It does not have to be a "hard driven ball"). This double-contacting rule does not apply (i.e. double-contacts are not permitted) if you are trying to set the ball.

      A player may hit the ball with any part of his/her body (including, for example, the feet).

    6. Blocking and spiking inside the attack zone (on or in front of the 10-foot line) may only be performed by the three players who are occupying the front line position in the rotation. Back row players who want to spike the ball have two choices: they may hit the ball without jumping (i.e. feet in contact with the ground when the ball is hit); or, if they do jump, they must depart the ground from a point behind the 10-foot line.
    7. When returning the ball, it must pass across the net and inside the court area. If your court has antennas, the ball must cross inside the antenna area. If your court does not have antennas, imagine that it does. This has ramifications for balls that go "wide" that you heroically chase after. In order to properly return the ball to the other side, the ball must cross the net between the designated points. Balls that go "around" the net or outside the antennas are invalid. Any contact with the antenna means that the ball is out.
    8. Touching the net with any part of your body (except hair) is a fault. Touching any part of the opponent's court with any part of your body except your foot is a fault. Touching their court with your foot is also a fault unless part of your foot is on or above the center line. You are permitted to be above your opponent's court (e.g. if you slide into the net and your body is hovering over but not touching the ground on your opponent's side) as long as you do not interfere with the play.
    9. The ball cannot be played by your team until some fraction of the ball has passed over the vertical plane of the net, except during a block. However, in a block, you can not touch the ball before your opponent does unless part of the ball has come over the net
    10. Any ball touching the baskets, walls, floor, bystanders, etc. is dead. However, if the ball hits the ceiling, and comes down on the same side of the court, you can continue to play it. If the ball hits the ceiling, then comes down on the opponent's side of the court, you lose the rally.
    11. If a ball from another game or warm-up enters your court, play stops immediately and the point is replayed. Teams that are warming up are required to control their balls so as not to interfere with other people's play. Teams that are playing are encouraged but not required to also do so.

Credits

This document was adapted from an email message from Michael Posner, one-time GSA Volleyball Rules Commissioner. The rules were compiled and updated by Chuck Yount, Greg Silvus, and Dave Ward. Updated by Michael Posner, Spring 1995 and Spring 1996. HTMLified by Darrell Kindred. Rewording, clarification and gratuitous emphasis supplied by Corey Kosak. Pat Riley then made changes including changing to rally scoring and 15 point games.

Questions regarding the rules should go to our the official web board. Otherwise send mail to me at pfr@cs.cmu.edu.

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