Quote:
Originally posted by widude
I have coached volleyball for the past 20 years, and remember that you cannot attack or block the ball until the ball has come below the top plane of the net. That is, the ball must drop below a plane parallel to the floor that is at the top height of the net before a play may be made. I was examining the rulebook lately (it seems that a lot has changed in 20 years) and cannot find any reference to this rule. Is it implied or am I just missing it? Also, if the ball hits the net on a serve, since part of the ball is below the top plane of the net, can it be blocked or attacked (as long as it hits the net first)?
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There is no such rule in the NFHS or USVA rule sets. The ball need NOT drop below the top of the net before it may be blocked or attacked. What you might be thinking of is the illegal backrow attack rule - a backrow player may not attack the ball while inside the 3 meter attack line until the ball is below the top of the net - regardless of whether it has penetrated the plane of the net. A backrow player may not block or attempt to block the ball at all. But with frontrow players, the ball is fair game for an attack or block as soon as any portion of the ball penetrates the plane of the net. Indeed, there are circumstances where a front row player may block the ball -before- it breaks the plane of the net.
Serves may not be blocked, regardless of whether the ball is above or below the top of the net. Nor may they be attacked while the ball is completely above the top of the net. Once any portion of the ball is below the top of the net, it may be attacked. This would be regardless of whether the ball had touched the net on the serve or not.