Volleyball is a popular sport played by both men and women. Volleyball can be a recreational or a competitive sport. But no matter how you play it, you need to understand the basic rules of the sport. The simple volleyball rules involve serving and returning the ball, and keeping score.
Game Play
Game play in volleyball starts with the serve. To serve, a player from one team stands behind the back line of the volleyball court and hits the ball over the net. Other players on the serving team can't help the ball over the net or touch the net once the ball is served. Once the ball is over the net, the receiving team can hit the ball a maximum of three times in order to get the ball back over the net. However, a block does not count as a hit. The object of the game is to get the ball to bounce inside your opponent's court, force the other team to hit the ball out of bounds, or force the other team to hit the ball more than three times in a row before sending the ball over the net.
Scoring
There are two types of scoring in volleyball: regular and rally scoring. In regular scoring, only the team that is serving can score a point. If the receiving team forces the other team into a fault--in which they return the ball out of bounds, fail to return the ball or hit it more than three times--the receiving team wins service of the ball. If the serving team forces the receiving team into a fault, they win 1 point. In rally scoring, every time a fault occurs, the team forcing the fault wins a point. The first team to win 25 points wins the game, according to USA Volleyball.
Illegal Moves and Other Rules
The rules of volleyball prohibit players from grabbing, tossing or catching the volleyball. Players may not hit the volleyball until it has crossed the vertical plane of the net and may not grab or pull on the net in order to get to the ball. A ball that hits the antennae attached to each side of the net is out. If a ball touches any part of a boundary line, it is in. The same player may not hit the ball twice in a row. If a team has used all three touches, the opposing team may reach over the plane of the net to block the ball.
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