Indoor Volleyball Rules

When not covered under PSL rules, USA Volleyball rules will govern play.
 

GENERAL

WAIVER OF LIABILITY

• All participants must agree to the Waiver of Liability. 
• The waiver can be accepted on each participant player’s dashboard. 
• A waiver must be signed for each league that is participated in.
• All participants in the league assume the risk of injury. The PSL, its volunteers, and employees shall not be liable for injury to person, loss or damage to personal property arising from or in any way resulting from participation in the league.

SPORTSMANSHIP

• Unsportsmanlike conduct will not be tolerated.
• Any behavior that is deemed violent, harassing, and/or inappropriate in any way, as witnessed by the umpire, referee, or PUMP/PSL staff, will result in the actions outlined in our Sportsmanship Policy.
• A player who is ejected from a match must leave the premises immediately. Play will not resume until the ejected player has left the facility.
• Officials reserve the right to end a match at any point if the overall sportsmanship is out of line.
• Captains are to be the team liaison to discuss any call or rule with an official during match play.

ROSTERS & PLAYERS

SUBMITTING A ROSTER

• Each team must submit a roster with a minimum of 6 and maximum of 12 players.
• No player may register for more than 1 team within the same league.
• Rosters must be submitted and waivers must be signed before any player may take the court.
• Rosters must be submitted by the date outlined in your registration email. 
• Rosters must be finalized and no changes are allowed after the third week of play when all teams have played two matches.
• The exception to this is when a player is injured or relocates and will not be able to play for the remainder of the season.
• Teams needing to make roster changes after the third week of play may email their request to Ky. 
• No player who is not on your roster and signed our waivers may play in the league.
• Only rostered players will be eligible for playoffs.

PLAYERS

• A team consists of 6 players, and there may never be more than 4 men on the court at one time.
  • As per our Inclusivity Statement, players should register and play in the way that most closely aligns with their gender identity. 
• A team may play with 5 players or 4 players (1 gender minority minimum) if necessary.
  • Teams playing with 5 players must have at least 2 gender minorities on the court.
  • Teams playing with 4 players must have at least 1 gender minority player on the court.
• Teams are permitted to pick up a maximum of 2 players from another PSL volleyball team to avoid forfeiting their match.
• Teams may not pick up players from the opponent they are scheduled to play that night.
• No team may use subs, PSL or otherwise, for playoffs.

MATCH SCHEDULE

START TIME

• All matches will start at their scheduled time.
• If a team does not have enough players to begin the match by 5 minutes after the scheduled start time, they will forfeit the first set. A score of 0 - 25 will be recorded for the forfeited set.
• If enough players to start a set arrive between 5 and 10 minutes after the match's scheduled start time, the remaining 2 sets will be played as scheduled.
• Once 10 minutes after the match's scheduled start time has passed, the match is recorded as a forfeit and the teams are allowed to use the remaining time to practice or organize a pickup game.
• Teams forfeiting 2 or more times during the regular season will be ineligible for playoffs.

MATCH LENGTH

• A match shall consist of 3 sets during the regular season.
• A set is over when one team scores 25 points (capped at 27).
• If time is running out, the referee may elect to play the 3^rd set to 15 points (capped at 17).
• The winning team must have at least a 2-point advantage. Play will continue until the cap is reached or a team has a 2-point advantage.
• Standings will be based on the number of sets won, not the number of matches won.

RULES

PLAYING FIELD

• Standard volleyball court boundaries of 59ft x 29.6ft. Lines may vary by facility.
• Volleyball net height for mixed gender leagues is 7'8". This may vary by facility but nets will be as close to 7'8" as possible.
• Volleyball Interference: When the ball comes into contact with the ceiling, rafters, anything hanging from the ceiling, etc.
  • On a serve: If the ceiling or rafters are hit on a serve it is considered a fault. The other team is awarded a point and the ball.
  • During open play: Any ball that contacts the ceiling may be played as long as it is on your side and you have hits left to play the ball. If your team hits the ball over the net and it hits the ceiling or rafters and goes into play the ball is dead and the point is awarded to the other team.

MATCH PLAY

• Rally scoring is used.
• Substitutions may be made any time the ball is dead.
• There is no limit on substitutions.
• Teams must maintain the same rotational order throughout a set but may change the rotation between sets.
• Liberos are allowed to assist teams in accessibility, specialization, and recruitment of rostered players, playing in the back row positions for specific players throughout the match.
• Teams may only use one libero per set, and three per match.
• Team captains must notify the official prior to the start of the match that they intend to use a libero. The specific player must be identified, as well as the two players (and position) for whom the libero will play back row.* (For example, "Our team will use JANE DOE as a libero, and she will play back row for our middle hitters, JOHN SMITH and JAMES MILLER.)
• For easy identification purposes, the designated libero must wear a shirt that differs in color from the rest of their teammates. No libero may wear the same color shirt as a teammate.
• If a team chooses to switch liberos or the players being replaced between sets - within the same match - the captain must identify the changes before the start of the next set. Otherwise, those identified prior to the start of the match are the only allowable libero replacements.
• The libero may not substitute for any other players than the two identified prior to the start of the set, and other players must substitute in a consistent manner as outlined above.
• The libero may serve in place of one of the two players they replace throughout that set, and replace the second player after they have served and the team returns to receiving.
  • The libero may serve in place of both players if there would be an interruption to the required 4:2 gender ratio.
• The libero may forearm pass from any location on the court and may overhead finger set/pass only from behind the 10-foot line.
• The libero is not permitted to overhead attack the ball from anywhere on the court, regardless of whether they were behind the attack line or remained on the ground.
• The libero is not permitted to block or attempt to block.
• The libero may jump serve. 
• When the libero rotates into the front row, they will immediately be replaced by the player for whom they played back row.
• Should the libero be ejected from the match, the team will forfeit the use of the libero for the remainder of the current set.
• Teams can substitute 1 of 2 ways:
  • Follow standard national substitution rules, subbing players A and B for one another throughout the set.
  • Rotate players on and off the court while staying in the same order. Illustrated example:

• Each team is allowed 1 timeout per set (1 minute in length).
• A coin toss will be done between the 2 opposing captains before the start of the first set. The winner can choose to serve, receive, or which court to start the first set on. Roles are reversed at the beginning of the next 2 sets.
• The serve is the act of putting the ball into play by the right back-row player who hits the ball with one hand or arm from the service zone (anywhere beyond the back line and within the 2 sidelines).
  • Authorization of the serve must be given to the server by the official before the serve may be hit. A ball that is served that has not received authorization will be considered dead and re-served.
  • Serves may be underhand or overhand.
  • Jump serves are legal in intermediate and competitive leagues only.
• Players on the serving team must not screen the opponents from seeing the contact for service or the path of the ball, including but not limited to waving arms, jumping, or moving sideways.
• Blocking and attacking the serve is illegal.
  • “Attacking” = directing the ball at the opponent.
  • “Attacking a serve” = a player completes an attack hit on the opponents' service when the ball is in the front zone and entirely higher than the top of the net.
• Attack hits are all actions directing the ball towards an opponent once the ball has crossed the vertical plane or is touched by a blocker.
  • A front row player can carry out an attack hit at any height.
  • A back row player can’t jump to strike a ball in front of the attack line until the ball is at least partially below the top of the net.
• After being given the signal to serve, only 1 toss of the serve is allowed.
• There are no “re-serves” if the serve should hit the ceiling or faults. Faults occur when:
  • A ball touches a teammate.
  • A ball is passed under the net.
  • A ball goes out of bounds.
• The ball is out of bounds when it touches any surface, object, or group outside the court. A ball may be played out-of-bounds from your own territory as long as it hasn’t touched any surface, object, or group outside the court.
• Players rotate clockwise on change of serve.
• Positions of players may be changed only after a set is completed.
• When using a facility with neighboring courts, if a ball enters one court from the other court, but does not directly pose a safety threat or interfere with the play, teams should make best effort to roll or kick the ball back to the other court rather than stopping play, and replays will be at the discretion of the official.

LEGAL & ILLEGAL HITS

• The ball must be cleanly hit. The following constitutes a legal hit:
  • Single contact with the ball with the heels of the hands, fists, arms, or any part of the body including the player’s foot.
  • A closed fist punching at the ball.
• The following constitutes an illegal hit:
  • Ball visibly comes to rest.
  • Held ball.
  • Successive contacts.*
  • Using fingers for an underhand hit.
  • Attacking the serve.
  • Catching or throwing the ball.

FAULTS

• The following types of faults can occur during an attempt to play the ball:
  • A player attempting to block an opponent's attack hit who contacts the net during their block attempt.
    • Net contact made by a player not in the act of playing the ball, where interference with play does not occur, is not a fault.
  • A player attempting to spike, or attack, the ball who contacts the net during their attempt.
    • Contact made outside of the boundary of active play - net poles and antennae - is not a fault.
  • A player touching the ball or an opponent in the opponent's space before or during the opponent's attack hit.
  • A player interfering with the opponent's play, making contact with an opponent, or completely crossing the center line under the net.
  • A player taking support from a teammate or any other object in order to hit the ball.
  • A team contacting the ball 4 times or more before returning it to the opponent’s side.
  • Catching or throwing the ball; the ball must be hit.
  • Serving out of turn (loss of points scored by ineligible server).
  • A player contacting the ball twice in succession.*
  • The ball contacts various parts of the player’s body successively.*
  • A player who receives a personal warning.
  • A foot fault on a serve.
  • When, in a facility with neighboring courts, any entry of a player into the neighboring court during pursuit of a ball shall be called as an immediate fault/dead ball (no replay), regardless of whether the ball or player made contact with another player.
  • Violations of the libero rules (i.e. illegally blocking the ball, attacking overhead).

*BALL HANDLING GUIDELINES

• In accordance with the spirit of the rules, and to encourage longer rallies and spectacular actions, only the most obvious ball handling violations will be whistled.
• Therefore, when a player is not in a very good position to play the ball, the referee is encouraged to be more lenient in their judgement of ball handling faults.

BLOCKING

• A ball touched by a player playing close to the net and attempting to block a shot by an opponent shall not be counted as one of the three hits permitted by their team. 
• He/she/they may block the shot and play the ball before a teammate hits the ball.
• If the two players block the ball simultaneously, this will count as one hit.

PLAYOFFS

SEEDINGS

• Playoff matches will consist of a best-of-three set series.
• The first team to win 2 sets will win the match.
• The first 2 sets will be played to 25 points (capping at 29).
• The 3^rd set, if necessary, will be played to 15 points (capping at 17).
• Playoffs are based on win/loss record on total sets won and not matches won.
• The number of teams to qualify for playoffs will vary based on the number of teams registered in the league.
•  

TIEBREAKERS

• All teams tied in the standings will use the following tiebreakers, in order, to determine seeding:
  • Most regular season sets won
  • Head-to-head record
  • Least points allowed
  • Most points scored
  • Coin toss

3-way tiebreakers: When 3 or more teams are tied all teams involved must be able to be seeded using the same tiebreaker, as opposed to knocking a team out and then returning to the top of the tiebreaker list. Tiebreakers will be applied until all teams that are tied can be seeded using the same tiebreaker. If the teams involved in the tie did not play one another in an even number of matches during the regular season then head-to-head record will be skipped and we will move to determine seeds using least points allowed.