SAND 6V6 STYLE
A minimum of 1 female is needed on the court to play; if 2 females are present then both must play, but only 1 is required to avoid a forfeit situation. All teams must have 2 females on the court during the playoffs. If a team only has 1 female on the court, they can only have a maximum of 3 males and will be required to play with 4 until the 2nd female arrives. *If you only have 1 female, you can only play with 4 players max, once the 2nd female arrives, you can add another male and play with 6. TEAMS MUST HAVE 2 FEMALES IN THE PLAYOFFS.
SAND 4V4 STYLE
A minimum of 1 female is needed on the court to play and teams can play with as few as 2 people to avoid a forfeit.
SAND 2V2 STYLE
ALL Rules listed below are specific to 2v2, outside of these specific rules, standard MSSL volleyball rules will apply.
- Players: 2 players on the court, gender does not matter.
- 2v2 Officiating: All games are self-officiated (no referees), therefore, teams are required to call their OWN violations, are expected to be honest and keep a high level of sportsmanship at all times. If you feel that your opponent is not being accountable, your team captain may politely intervene to discuss fouls called or uncalled. We rely on your spirit of sportsmanship and honesty to keep the matches pleasant for all. If there is a dispute, please re-serve the point.
- 2v2 Play:
- A player may never block a serve.
- A player may never use an open hand to volley a serve nor can a player execute an open-handed volley on first contact (every time the ball crosses the net, including free balls) with the ball unless it is hard-driven (the serve is never considered a hard-driven ball regardless of its velocity).
- A hard driven ball is classified as a ball hit with a full swing and has very little arc.
- “Sets” that drift over the net are permitted.
- Lifting, scooping the ball and double hits are not permitted.
- A block is counted as a hit.
- A ball may be volleyed over the net only if you are square to the direction of the ball.
- No “open-handed” tipping: players who contact the ball with one hand and are putting the ball over the net, must cleanly hit it with the heel or palm of the hand (a roll shot), with straight, locked fingers and a locked wrist (a cobra), knurled fingers (a camel toe) or with the back of the hand (locked wrist and locked fingers/knuckles). One-handed placement or redirection of the ball with the fingers (dink or open-handed tip) is a fault. Players may not set the ball over the net (Hands over net).
- Players may play the ball off any part of their body, including feet.
- You do not have to rotate your players around the court, but you must rotate your servers.
ROSTERS
Teams must submit a copy of their roster prior to the first game (maximum of 9 players per team). Teams may add additional players in the regular season but cannot do so prior to playoffs.
ROTATION
Although rotating position is not required, you must rotate your serving order. If rotating additional players into the order, that player must enter into the serving position. Once substitution is started, it must be continued. If a player arrives late and is necessary to complete a full team, said player may rotate in by requesting a substitution. If a player arrives late and the team is full, said player may rotate in on the serve. Failure to keep the proper rotation will result in loss of rally.
BEHAVIOR
Teams will be penalized points or serve for bad mouthing the ref or other unsportsmanlike conduct. Referees will explain in greater detail if the occasion occurs. Any player or fan is encouraged to root for their own team but rooting against teams or use of disparaging language is discouraged and could result in penalties of players or dismissals of fans. Refusal to leave could result in forfeiture of games.
SCORING
Match play will be best 2 out of 3 games. Games will be played via RALLY SCORING. First 2 games to 25 points, winning by a 2-point advantage. A third game will be played regardless to either 15, 21, or 25 points depending on time. It is not necessary for this game to be won by 2 due to time restraints. If a team wins the match 2-0, the 3rd game can still count towards tiebreakers at the end of the season.
CONTACT WITH THE BALL
- A player may touch the ball with any part of the body.
- A player may have successive contacts with the ball during a single attempt to make the team’s first contact provided the fingers are not used to direct the ball.
- It is legal to receive a served ball using the fingers in a setting action, provided that there is not a double contact or a held ball. A double contact or held ball with the fingers in a setting action receiving the ball is illegal.
- The ball must be contacted cleanly and not held, lifted, pushed, caught, carried or thrown. The ball cannot roll or come to rest in any part of the body. It can rebound in any direction. An exception shall be allowed during the defensive play of a hard-driven ball (an attack-hit or blocked ball traveling at a high rate of speed), as judged by the referee. In that case, the ball may be momentarily lifted or pushed.
- Plays involving finger action require special attention. If the play is defensive and reactive in nature, as in the case of a hard-driven ball, momentarily held or double-contacted balls are not considered faults. Furthermore, this may apply to the second touch of a team if the block contact was slight and the ball is still a hard-driven attack, or to the defensive action (team first contact) after a ball has been blocked. If the player decides/intends to employ finger action, as in the case of off-speed attack defense or setting, the action must be “clean.”
- Rotation of a set ball may indicate a held ball or multiple contacts during the set, but in itself is not a fault.
- In our 4v4 & 2v2 leagues when contacting the ball with one hand, other than for setting the ball to a teammate, the ball must be cleanly hit with the heel or palm of the hand (a roll shot), with straight, locked fingertips (a cobra), knurled fingers (a camel toe) or with the back of the hand from the wrist to the knuckles. One-handed placement or redirection of the ball with the fingers (a dink or open-hand tip) is a fault (In the recreation league dinks and open-hand tips are legal).
- A blocking contact is not counted as a team contact. The blocking team will have three contacts after a blocking contact.
SERVES
LET SERVES ARE LEGAL. Any served ball that contacts the net and continues over is considered a live and legal serve. Service Foot Faults will be called in all levels. The server must contact the ball within five seconds after the referee authorizes service via whistle. There is no requirement to “toss” the ball and hit out of the air, but if it is “teed” off, the ball MUST be stationary when hit. If the ball, after having been tossed or released by the server, lands without being touched or is caught by the server, the player will get ONE retry only. Serve will be determined for the first game based on ‘rock, paper, scissors’ between 2 captains. During playoffs the team with the higher seed will get choice in first game of serve or side. If seedings are not known, then “odd-even” will be used.
INTERFERENCE & SCREENING
If a player steps on or crosses into an adjacent court the ball is considered dead and out-of-play. Under the Net Violations will not be called as long as you do not interfere with anyone on the opposite side of the net. The teammates of the server must not prevent the opposing team, through screening, from seeing the server or the path of the ball. On the opponent’s request, they must move sideways to allow view.
TIMEOUTS
One, 30-second time out per game is allowed per match. A time out must be called before the service has been authorized. Prolonging a time out will results in one warning then loss of rally for subsequent offenses.
RULE CLARIFICATIONS
When in doubt, outdoor USAV/AVA rules will be enforced. If there are any questions or concerns please have your team captain or team representative speak with the official directly. Your referees will be happy to answer any questions or explain any rules to your team. Feel free to contact the office with any questions.
OFFICIAL GAMES
In the event of a rain shortened game, MSSL reserves the right to declare an official game if 1 set is played to a minimum of 15 points. If it works out in the season schedule, MSSL prefers to pickup the match in the next set declaring only a winner from the first set instead of the game. For example, if the score is 22-19 in the first set and the remainder of the game is rained out, MSSL CAN declare it an official match and not make it up. However, if the schedule allows MSSL will declare the team winning 22-19 as the winner of the first set and pick it up 1-0 on a makeup day.
