Missed this one yesterday

[DaveASA/FED]

Originally Posted by FMadera

...which really isn't the criteria you'd use to determine an illegal attack...

Ok enlighten me. How can it be an attack if the offensive player wasn't directing the ball toward the other court? If I look at 5.1b I see:
"Attack — Any action other than a block or a serve that directs the ball toward the opponent's court. A team's third hit is always considered an attack. A completed attack occurs the instant the ball completely crosses the vertical plane of the net, or is legally contacted."

So if her action was to direct the ball away from the other teams court and it was only that teams second hit, how could it be considered an attack? Again I'm trying to learn here, my thought is if it isn't an attack by definition then it couldn't be an illegal back row attack. What am I missing?