Questions?
 

I ref volleyball games for a local parks and rec league. They are Coed Games and alot of the players come from high school and or college volleyball backgrounds. That being said the local league doesn't have an adopted set of rules. They have a small handout with a handful of rules listed. No kicking ball, If more then one guy contacts the ball then a girl must touch the ball as well before going over, etc. My questions are not covered in the local rules so I am looking for answers that are more of the standard.

1. One guy blocks the ball then it is contacted by another guy on his team and goes over the net. Does this violate the coed rule of 1 girl touching the ball if more then 1 guy touches the ball while it is on his side of the net. Or does the block not count as a touch therefore no violation.

2. A hitter spikes the ball down that hits the floor, then after the ball hits the floor the hitter makes contact with the net. Does the ball contacting the floor first end play so the net contact is a mute point?

3. A back row player comes in front of the 10' line and jumps to spike a ball. The player is very short and her jump only gets her an inch or two above the floor. She hits the ball while it is below the net. Is this a back row attack?

4. Team A hit's the ball 3 times on their sid of the net hit 3 put's the ball close to the net but it is obviously not going to go over the net. A player from team B seeing the ball close to the net reaches over the net and spikes it to the floor. Is these a violation on team B for reaching over the net or does play stand fault on team A for not getting the ball over?

I am talking to the league rep. about adopting some set of Official rules so there will at least be a set of rules to fall back on. Then his local rules can overide if he wants something different.

Block doesn't count as a touch. No violation, unless you're playing with rules against guys blocking.

Yes, once the ball hits the floor, and anything after that is moot.

If the ball is not entirely above the net, the attack is always legal.

There is no fault on team A until the ball is contacted a 4th time or it hits the floor. If neither of this has happened, the reaching over violation should be called as in any other time the ball is live.

Always a smart idea...

Thanks for clearing those up for me. Any recomendations on what rule set I should push the director towards??

I'd go with the USA Volleyball rules. They're pretty relaxed, and anyone can download a copy for free. They even have rules governing co-rec play, which would be helpful in your case.

Felix, in NHFS, I thought once a team hit a ball 3 times on their side, the opposing team could reach over the net and play the ball legally as the third hit has to be an attempt to send the ball over the net (as long as they don't touch the next).

Big Toe,

Yes, a team may reach over in this case and legally *block* the ball. However, a team may NEVER legally *attack* a ball that is entirely on the other team's side of the net.

Which is distinguished by........?

As stated in the rules, directing vs. deflecting.

C'mon now, rev! You have reffed long enough to know the difference between a block and an attack! And you know that you can NEVER attack a ball that is completely on the opponent's side of the net...all three rules sets agree.

Felix, thanks for the clarification between blocking and attacking the 3rd contact.

This was one of the comments that I heard from several of the players that obviously had a high school volleyball background. My response was that you can't attack a ball over the net.... In my opinion it was a DMH (Dumb move hitter) the ball was going down on there side of net or was going to be hit a 4th time anyway. You just cost your team a point.

MC,
Just having a little fun and trying to promote a little more discussion for "food for thought"category.:) No foul or malice intended. Truthfully, I picture these plays and watch them play out in my head as we discuss them to learn more and reinforce things. And having said that, I have seen what I clearly thought were attacks on the opponent's side not ruled as such so, insights from others..... not a bad thing