Volleyball coach Tom Peterson states in the book "Volleyball Skills and Drills" that failed serves are one of the biggest factors contributing to a volleyball team's win and loss ratio. At the high school level, players must strictly adhere to the rules of serving and prevent failed serves due to rule violations. The National Federation of State High School Associations, or NFHS, annually reviews the rules of the game and makes changes to those rules as necessary.
Server Position and Rotation
Rule eight of the "2009-2010 NFHS Volleyball Rules Book" states that only the player in the back right position on the serving team's court may serve the ball. When serving, you must be within the court's serving area and you cannot be touching the line or area outside of the serving area when you make contact with the ball. Your team retains the service until you lose a rally. Every time your team wins a service, all of the players rotate one position in the clockwise direction so the person in the front-right position moves to the back right and becomes the server.
Contact
When you serve the ball, you may only contact it with one hand. This contact must be made within five seconds of the referee blowing his whistle to begin the service. You may strike the ball while touching the floor within the serving area or while in the air. However, you cannot make contact with the ball while touching the floor outside of the serving area. If you toss the ball in the air but do not make contact with it, the referee declares a re-serve and you have another five seconds to make contact with the ball before you lose the service.
Service Fault
A service fault occurs if you serve the ball under the net, into the net or not entirely between the net antennae. A fault also occurs if your service hits one of your teammates, the floor on your side of the court or lands out of bounds. The referee will declare a service illegal if the ball is hit incorrectly, the server is touching the floor outside of the service area, the service takes more than five seconds, a team uses improper service order or you deliberately serve the ball before the receiving team is ready.
Penalties
The penalty for an illegal serve, service faults or serving the ball when the receiving team is unprepared is for the receiving team to win a point and for the serving team to lose the rally. However, if the receiving team is out of position when a service fault happens, the serving team receives a point. The receiving team also gains a point if the server requires a second re-serve.
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