Junior Volleyball Olympic Rules & Regulations

The Junior Olympic Volleyball program is a national championship event for youth volleyball teams. The program is run by USA Volleyball under its rules and regulations for indoor volleyball competition. Now known as the Junior National Championships, the competition is open to players who are 18 years old and under who have not participated in any capacity with a college team at any level. Teams gather at designated sites to play for a national title and to expose players to college scouts.

  1. Participating Teams

    • Club volleyball teams apply for the right to participate in the Junior Olympic national tournaments. Most of the spots are filled by teams who win qualifying tournaments, though there are typically two spots open to at-large teams selected by the tournament committee. Once a team has qualified for and been accepted into the national tournament, its roster is frozen and it cannot drop or add players prior to the competition. Players from a qualified team are also not able to switch teams once the roster is frozen.

    Faults

    • There are four types of faults in volleyball and each results in a point being awarded to the opposing team. A team may pass the ball on its side of the net, but the third hit must cross over the net. The first fault occurs when the ball stays on the same side of the net for four hits. The second fault is an assisted hit, which is called when an object of a teammate is used to support a player in making a play on the ball. A carry is a hit on which, in the judgment of the officials, a player is ruled to have thrown or caught the ball in trying to hit it. A double hit occurs when a player, in trying to hit the ball, has it come off two separate parts of the body. For example, a player setting the ball makes contact with the ball with two hands, but not simultaneously.

    Rally Scoring

    • Volleyball is scored using rally scoring. Matches are a best-of-five format, with the first four games being played to 25 points and the fifth game, if necessary, to 15 points. To win a game, a team must have a two-point advantage. Rally scoring means that each time a point is played, the team winning that rally gets the point, regardless of which team served the ball. When a receiving team captures a point from the serving team, it also takes control of the next serve and its players rotate clockwise one spot.

    Libero

    • The libero is a defined playing position in volleyball. She comes in as a substitute along the three back-row positions only, for one of her teammates. She is not allowed to attack at the net, but is a defensive specialist only. A team must designate that it will be using a libero before the start of each game, and the player is identified by the wearing of a different color of jersey than her teammates.