Volleyball Facts & Rules

Only invented four years after basketball, volleyball is one of the most popular sports in the world. Since its invention in 1885, volleyball—originally called “mintonette” by its inventor, William G. Morgan—has undergone a transformation and grown into a prevalent sport, taking place both indoors and outdoors.

  1. Players and Zones

    • Volleyball is played with six players per team and has six zones. Three players are positioned in the front row, which is comprised of zones 2, 3, and 4; while the remaining three are in the back row or in zones 1, 5, and 6. The player on the first zone does the serve, which is the first act to start the game by putting the ball into play. Whenever a team scores a point, the players on that team rotate positions clockwise.

    Basic Gameplay

    • Similar to basketball, volleyball is a game of offense and defense. Offense in volleyball is called the “attack,” an action where a player hits the ball towards the opponent’s side. Commonly known as a “spike,” an attack gains a point when the ball hits the opponent’s floor area. An attacker can also opt to make a “power tip”—slightly pushing or tipping the ball towards the opponent’s area—instead of spiking the ball to score a point. A “set” is also a form of attack. With the ball tossed close to the net, a set allows the spiker to hit the ball at a particular height and angle.

      Meanwhile, the first line of defense in volleyball is called a “block.” Front row players time the opponent’s attack with the aim of preventing the ball from crossing the court. Another line of defense is called a “dig”—the act of passing the ball with hands and wrists together.

    Violations

    • For every sequence—excluding the initial contact made during a block—a team only has to make contact with the ball three times. Otherwise, the team commits the “four hits” violation and a point is awarded to the opponent.

      In addition, each player must not make contact with the ball twice or else he will be called for a “double” violation; however, a player can have two consecutive contacts with the ball if he happens to be the one who partially blocked the ball. The ball must also not stay in the hands of a player for too long. This is called the “lifting” violation.

      Other common faults in volleyball are the “reaching” violation wherein a player reaches over the net when blocking, and the “net” violation, which is when a player comes in contact with or touches the net. Since volleyball uses a rally-point system, every violation committed by a team translates into a point for the opponent.