6 Man Rules for Volleyball Tournament Play

Under both the rules of USA Volleyball, the American governing body of the sport, and the International Federation of Volleyball, which oversees international competitions, the only sanctioned six-player matches are indoors. (Beach games always utilize pairs.) Because of the number of teams typically allowed in competitions, indoor volleyball tournaments use a pool play format.

  1. Pool Organization

    • Teams are divided into "pools," or groupings of a certain number of teams. The number of pools typically depends on the number of teams. For example, at the FIVB Men's Club World Volleyball Championship in 2009, there were eight teams divided equally into two pools. In larger tournaments, there might be several pools, with an unequal number of teams. For example, the Ohio Valley Region of USA Volleyball has a tournament in which there are 10 teams, with four in one pool and three in two other pools.

      Teams are typically placed in pools based on their overall rankings in an attempt for parity among pools. In the Ohio Valley tournament, for example, the top-, sixth-, seventh- and 10th-place teams are in pool A, the second-, fifth- and eighth-ranked team are in pool B, and the third-, fourth- and ninth-seeded teams in pool C.

    Pool Play and Moving On

    • Teams within a pool will play matches against one another in a round robin tournament. They do not play teams in other pools. When all pool play is complete, the top teams from each pool move on to a single-elimination tournament against one another. Often, the top two teams from each pool move on, although which teams move on depends on the number of teams; in larger tournaments, for example, only the top teams might make it so as to make for a less-drawn out single-elimination tournament.

    Single-Elimination Tournament

    • After pool play, the top team from one pool plays the second-best team from another. For example, if there are four pools and the top two teams move on from each pool, the top team from pool A plays the second-best team from pool B, the top team from pool C plays the second-best team from pool D; and their counterparts play one another.

      Teams winning their matches move on, playing other winning teams, until there are only two undefeated teams left for the championship match. There also is typically a consolation match for third and fourth place.