Volleyball Rules for High School Games

High school volleyball follows the rules set down by U.S.A. Volleyball, the sport's national governing body. It is played on a hard indoor court by either a team of six girls or six boys.

  1. Court

    • The volleyball court is 60 feet long and 30 feet wide. It is divided in half lengthwise by a net that reaches 7 feet 11 5/8 in height for boys games, and 7 feet 4 1/8 inches for girls.

    Scoring

    • High schools use rally scoring, meaning that a point is scored on every serve, regardless of which team serves.

    Rotation

    • Players rotate one position clockwise after every change of possession. In other words, when the non-serving team wins the point, it gains the serve and its players rotate.

    Serve

    • The server must stand out of bounds behind the back boundary line to serve. She cannot step into the court or onto the line until she has made contact with the ball. A ball that hits the net and goes into the opponent's court is good.

    Offense, Defense

    • A team must return the ball to its opponent in no more than three hits. A defensive player may reach over the net to block an attack, but an attacker may not reach over the net.

    Games, Matches

    • Games are played to 25. The first team to score at least 25 points with a two-point advantage wins the game. Matches are best of three or five games. The final tie-breaking game is sometimes shortened to 15 points, win by two.