Court Volleyball Rules

Court Volleyball Rules

Game Duration

  • Games will start sharply at their scheduled time. Please arrive early to ensure you are dressed for play and ready to start on time.
  • Games will be 55 minutes long with a 5 minute warm-up.

Players

  • 6 vs 6 coed
  • 4 males max min 1 female (typically 4 males 2 females, or 3 males 3 females, teams can play with as many females as they want)
  • All players have to play if there is an eligible spot on the court for them. ie. teams can not play with 5 and have a player rotating in from the bench.  If there are 6 eligible players they all must play.

Short handed Rues

  • If teams have 5 players a max of 3 males can be on the court (3 males 2 female)
    If teams have 4 males and 1 female they must play with 3 males and rotate one male in).
  • If teams have 4 players they must have one female. (3 males 1 female)
  • When teams have subs they must rotate in not to break the rules above and must keep the same rotation for the duration of the game.   Rotation can be changed from game to game.
  • Based on the above rules the following male/ female combinations are allowed,
    extra players will sub on to the court in an order that meets one for the following.
    4 males 2 females
    3 males 3 females
    3 males 2 females
    3 males 1 female
    2 males 4 females
    2 males 3 females
    2 males 2 females
    1 male 5 females
    1 male 4 females
    1 male 3 females
    0 males 6 females
    0 males 5 females
    0 males 4 females

THE SERVE

  1. The first serve of the first set is determined by a coin toss.
  2. Server must serve from behind the restraining line (end line) until after contact.
  3. Ball may be served underhand or overhand.
  4. Ball must be clearly visible to opponents before serve.
  5. Served ball may graze the net and drop to the other side for point.
  6. Front row players can not attack the ball until the ball has dropped below the top of the net.
  7. Serves are capped at 5 consecutive per player. After the fifth serve, rotate to the next server.  Serving order must be followed.

SCORING

  1. Rally scoring will be used.
  2. There will be a point scored on every score of the ball.
  3. Offense will score on a defense miss or out of bounds hit.
  4. Defense will score on an offensive miss, out of bounds hit, or serve into the net.
  5. Game will be played to 25 pts.
  6. Must win by 2 points.
  7. A min of 10 total points must be scored for the game to be official.  At the final minute of game time the referee will let the teams know that the next serve is the last point to be played.
  8. We play as many matches as we can get in within the 55min game time (5min warm up 55min game time).  The final score for the night will be the number of matches each team has won.  ie. Team A won 3 matches, Team B won 2 matches.  The score is 3 -2 for Team A.  Team A gets 3 points in the standings.

ROTATION

  1. Team will rotate each time they win the serve.
  2. Players shall rotate in a clockwise manner.
  3. There shall be 4-6 players on each side.

PLAYING THE GAME

  1. Maximum of three hits per side.
  2. Player may not hit the ball twice in succession (A block is not considered a hit).
  3. Ball may be played off the net during a volley and on serve.
  4. A ball touching a boundary line is good.
  5. A legal hit is contact with the ball by a player body which does not allow the ball to visibly come to a rest.
  6. The ball may touch any part of the body.
  7. If two or more players contact the ball simultaneously, it is considered one play and the players involved may not participate in the next play.
  8. A player must not block or attack a serve.

BASIC VIOLATIONS

  1. Stepping on or over the line on a serve.
  2. Failure to serve the ball over the net successfully.
  3. Hitting the ball illegally (Carrying, Palming, Throwing, etc.).
  4. Net Fault: Touching any part of the net during the action of playing, attempting to play or faking a play on the ball is a NET FAULT.
  5. Reaches under the net (if it interferes with the ball or opposing player).
  6. Failure to serve in the correct order.
  7. A back row player cannot block or attack the ball above the height of the net while they are in the front zone.

Late Penalties

  • If one team is at the court ready to play at the scheduled time (after the 5min warm up) and the other team is not ready to play, after 5 minutes one set will be awarded to the team that is ready to play.
  • After 10 minutes the team that is at the court ready to play will be awarded the win.

Overall Standings Tie Breakers

  • If there is a in the standings based on points the following will be used as a tie breaker.
  • Total Most Points (standings 3 points for a win, 1 for a tie)
  • Plus minus
  • Points for
  • Points against
  • Head to Head (if applicable)
  • If everything is equal a coin toss

FORFEIT

  • We require 24 hrs for a forfeit notification so we can inform the opposing team.
  • If a team for any reason is not able to start or complete a match they shall forfeit.  The opposing team will take their current score, or a 3-0 win (which ever is higher).
  • If a team is able to continue playing but decides they don’t want to for any reason the opposing team will get a forfeit win based on the current score and amount of time remaining in the hour of play.

Player Eligibility

  • All players must register online and sign the online waiver in order to be eligible to play in the league.
  • Once registration is complete (fully) the name of the registrant will appear under the team name on the roster section of the website.  Only people that are on the roster can ply for the team.
  • If teams are caught playing with unregistered (illegal players) they will loose their existing game and the next.
    Team captains are responsible to ensure all players are eligible to play.
  • If teams are short they can borrow players from another team ONLY if the opposing team captain agrees to it BEFORE the game begins.  Borrowed players must be registered with another team in the NRS league.  Outside players are not allowed and must fully register with the team before playing.

Process for challenging player eligibility

  • Team captains are responsible to check their own and the opposing team’s roster each week before the game begins.
  • All players must carry some form of picture ID and be ready to show the referee or the opposing team captain if asked.
  • The team captain of the team challenging the eligibility of an opposing team’s player(s) must pull up the team rosters on the phone and approach the opposing team’s bench and speak to the team captain regarding the player in question with the roster.
    If the team captain refuses to do so the team will get an automatic loss and the player in question will be removed from the field immediately.
  • The team captain (of the team in question) must verify the player in question is in fact on the roster and ID must be shown by the player to verify they are in fact the person listed on the roster on the website.
  • If the player is found not to be on the team roster and/ or does not show ID to prove they are who they say they are, notify the umpire and they will be removed from the game and the offending team will take a loss for that game.
  • Teams have until the beginning of their game to register players.  All registrations are time stamped in our back end.

UNIFORMS

  • Matching team shirts are recommended, if your team does not have team shirts they can be purchased through Niagara Rec Sports for 9.00/ shirt.  Seasonal costumes is permitted, ie. Halloween or Christmas themed costumes.
  • Good quality court shoes must be warn.
  • Please wear shoes with non marking soles only. If you are wearing shoes that leave marks on the floor you will be asked to take them off and wear non marking sole shoes.  If you do not have shoes with non marking soles you will not be permitted on the court.
  • Knee and Elbow pads are recommended.

Playoffs

  1. Even if you are knocked out of the playoffs you still have games for the remainder of the season.
  2. Quarter and Semi-finals  & Finals are best 2 our of 3 to 25 cap of 27no cap (the tie breaker is to 25 cap of 27 as well if needed).  If you finish your games early you can still play for the remainder of the time for fun if teams wish.

School board rules – Children
The school board has a no children policy that states children are not permitted to be at the gym at any time before, during or after the games are being played.  Please respect this rule and teams in violation risk forfeiting their game.

Team captains are responsible for bringing a first aid kit to each game.

Niagara Rec Sports reserves the right to remove or disallow any player from the league at any time throughout the year.  No refunds will be given if/ when players are removed from the league.

Niagara Rec Sports reserves the right to add, alter, remove rules either verbally or on any rules page at any time as we deem fit, any rule changes will be effective immediately.  Rules discussed at the team captains meeting are to be considered part of the league rules.

For other league rules visit this page.

CODE OF CONDUCT

  • Understand, appreciate and abide by the rules of the game.
  • Respect the integrity and judgment of game officials and NRS staff.
  • Respect your opponent and congratulate them in a courteous manner following each match whether in victory or defeat.
  • Be responsible for your actions and maintain self-control.
  • Refrain from using foul or abusive language.
  • Have fun!