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~Rules of the Game~

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hitter
(girl hitting a ball)

 

Errors and Faults:

  • The ball lands out of the court, in the same court as the team that touched it last, or the ball touches the net "antennas". The ball also may not pass over or outside the antennas even if it lands in the opponents' court1.
  • The ball is touched more than three times before being returned to the other team's court2.
  • The same player touches the ball twice in succession3.
  • A player "lifts" or "carries" the ball (the ball remains in contact with the player's body for too long).
  • A player touches the net with any part of his or her body or clothing while making a play on the ball (with the exception of the hair).
  • The players of one team do not manage to touch the ball before the ball lands in their half of the court.
  • A back-row player spikes the ball while it is completely above the top of the net, unless he or she jumped from behind the attack line (the player is however allowed to land in front of the attack line).
  • A back-row player attempts to block an opposing team's attack by reaching above the top of the net.
  • The libero, a defensive specialist who can only play in the back row, makes an "attacking hit", defined as any shot struck while the ball is entirely above the top of the net.
  • A player completes an attack hit from higher than the top of the net when the ball is coming from an overhand finger pass (set) by a libero in the front zone.

    (for more errors and faults)

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Game Play:

There are six players that play on the court at one time. Three players are in the front row which is in front of the 10ft. line and three players are behind that line. To start the game, the first team to serve is decided from a coin toss. While the coin toss is going on, each team warms up. When the coin toss is over, each team gets four minutes on the court and then two minutes at the end to serve.

The game begins by a player on one of the teams serving the ball behind the end line. They serve the ball at the opposing team. Teams must get the ball back over the net in three contacts or less. If there are any more than three, then the team loses a point.

When a team recieves the ball onto there side of the court and attempts to attack the ball at the other team is known as offense. This is when the setter sets a hitter and they hit the ball at the other team. When one team is playing offense its just normal that the other team is playing defense because they are defending the ball and trying to avoid letting the ball hit the floor.

In high school, volleyball matches are three games out of five. So there is always a possibility of going to five games. All of the games go to 25 points except for the fifth which would go to 15 and is sort of like a tie breaker. In club volleyball, the games are two out of three, and three being the tie breaker.

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Equipment:

The game is played on volleyball courts 18 metres long and 9 metres wide, divided into two 9 x 9 metre courts by a one-metre wide net placed so that the top of the net is 2.43 metres above the centre of the court for men's competition, and 2.24 metres for women's competition (these heights are varied for veterans and junior competitions). There is a line 3 metres from and parallel to the net in each team court which is considered the "attack line". This "3 metre" line divides the court into "back row" and "front row" areas. These are in turn divided into 3 areas each: these are numbered as follows, starting from area "1", which is the position of the serving player:

After a team gains the serve (also known as siding out), its members must rotate in a clockwise direction, with the player previously in area "2" moving to area "1" and so on, with the player from area "1" moving to area "6" (see also the Errors and Faults section).

The team courts are surrounded by an area called the free zone which is a minimum of 2 metres wide and which the players may enter and play within after the service of the ball. All lines denoting the boundaries of the team court and the attack zone are drawn or painted within the dimensions of the area and are therefore a part of the court or zone. If a ball comes in contact with the line, the ball is considered to be "in". An antenna is placed on each side of the net perpendicular to the sideline and is a vertical extension of the side boundary of the court. A ball passing over the net must pass completely between the antennae (or their theoretical extensions to the ceiling) without contacting them.

The volleyball is made of leather or synthetic leather and inflated with compressed air. It is round and 65-67 cm in circumference.

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court
(Volleyball Court)

Courtesy of:

Wikipedia.org