Volleyball Service Rules

The rules of volleyball have changed a great deal since the sport was invented in 1895. For example, although servers still start the playing action, back then the game was divided into innings, similar to baseball, which were determined by the number of players per team. Each player had to serve for an inning to be complete. Today, servers continue to serve as long as their team wins the rally. Once the team loses and then regains the serve, players rotate clockwise so that a different player serves.

  1. First Service

    • A coin toss determines which team serves first for the first game of a match, after which the serve alternates for the beginning of the next game or three games—one game in a best-of-three match and three games in a best-of-five match. If teams are tied after the first two or four games, respectively, a tiebreaker game is held and a coin toss again is used to determine which team serves first.

    Service Order

    • The player in the back right of the court serves first for the first team serving and continues to serve as long as her team scores. If her team loses a point, the opposing team serves. The opposing team must rotate once clockwise, so that the player who began the game at the upper-right position moves into the server position for her team's first serve. Every change of possession means a team rotation and a new server.

    Serving Action

    • The first referee whistles to indicate both teams are ready for service. At that point, the server has eight seconds to serve. He must stand behind the baseline and cannot touch inside the court until the ball has left his hand. For a jump serve, he must jump from behind the line and strike the ball before landing in the court. He may toss the ball or hit it out of one hand, but once the ball is released it is in play—a ball may not be dropped to the ground, picked up and then served. The player must strike the ball with one hand or any part of his arm to serve. A ball may be re-served if the player serves before the referee blows her whistle for the service or if there is a disruption in the game. The ball must clear the net—it is allowed to hit the net—and enter the opponent's court space.

    Faults and Penalties

    • An offensive team may be penalized a point and the loss of serve if the referee determines that a player or players intentionally blocked, or screened, the view of the served ball from the receiving team.

      Service faults, which result in loss of serve, include a team serving out of order, a ball touching an offensive player, a ball not crossing the net, a ball landing out of bounds, and a ball touching an overhead obstruction.