Sand Volleyball Rules

General Information

  1. Participants are subject to all of the policies and procedures in the Intramural Handbook.
  2. Games will consist of 2 teams, 4 players per team.
    1. Mixed-rec teams may have no more than 2 male-identifying players on the court at any time.
    2. Games may start with 3 players.

Equipment

  1. All participants should wear proper recreational attire.  This includes t-shirts, gym shorts, wind or sweat pants, and socks (optional).
  2. Jewelry shall not be worn.
  3. Sun glasses are allowed.
  4. Headwear that contains knots, hard or stiff material including billed hats are allowed.
  5. Any hard braces must be covered and padded.
  6. Participants wearing casts are prohibited from intramural play.
  7. The final determination regarding legal equipment will be made by the Intramural Supervisor present at the game.

Game Regulations

  1. A match will consist of the best 2 out of 3 games won in a 45 minute time limit.
  2. The first two games will be played to 25 points. The third game will be played to 15 points.
  3. Games will be rally scoring with a point scored on every serve.
  4. The first two games must be won by 2 points, or the first team to 30 points.
  5. The third game will be played until the first team reaches 15 points.
    1. Teams will switch sides when the first team reaches 8 points in the third game
  6. Each team is allowed two 30 second time out per game. Time outs will not carry over from game to game.
  7. There will be a one minute intermission between the first and second game and a 3 minute intermission between the second and third game.
  8. The home team or higher seed will chose one of the following options at the start of the first and third game:
    1. Serving the ball.
    2. Side of court.
  9. At the start of the second game the visiting team or lower seed shall serve or defend whichever they did not do at the start of the game.
  10. Teams switch ends after the first game.
  11. The home team is determined by whatever team is listed first on the schedule.

Player Positions

  1. Player Positions
    1. At the time of service all players must be inside the boundaries of the court.
    2. Players do not have to play in set positions or rotate.
    3. Players must maintain the same service order throughout the match.
  2. If a player is substituted for, he/she must return to the same spot in the service order.
  3. For an improper server, side-out shall be awarded as soon as the improper server is discovered and verified. Any points known by the official scorer to have been made by the improper server shall be canceled.
  4. When an improper server is discovered prior to the contact of the first serve by the opposing team, all points earned by the improper server shall be canceled. No further penalty is assessed.
    1. When an improper server is not discovered until after the serve has alternated and the first serve has been contacted, there shall be no cancellation of points, and no penalty is assessed.
    2. Proper serving order as written on the score sheet shall be regained immediately.
    3. A screen is an act, intentional or unintentional, which obstructs the receiving player’s view of the server or the flight of the ball from the server. A potential screen exists when players on the serving team wave arms, jumps, or stands close to the server and the ball is served over that player. A potential screen exists when a group of two or more teammates stand close together and the ball is served over them. PENALTY: A side-out and point is awarded the opponent.

Substitutions

  1. The continuous substitution rule will be in effect. The server will drop off the court after he/she loses the serve (i.e. a side out), and the next substitute will enter the game in the place of the server.
  2. PENALTY FOR AN ILLEGAL SUBSTITUTE: Unnecessary delay is charged the offending team when an illegal substitute attempts to enter or is found in the game.
    1. For the serving team, any points known to have been scored on this term of service while the illegal substitute was in the game shall be canceled.
    2. For the receiving team prior to the contact of the service by the opposing team, all points earned during the previous term of service by the violating team while the illegal substitute was in the game, shall be canceled.
    3. After the serve has alternated and the first serve is contacted, there shall be no cancellation of points.
    4. In all cases, the illegal substitute must enter legally or be replaced by a legal player.

Lineup

  1. Mixed-rec lineup may not have consecutive male servers.
    1. Exception: if the team is playing a player down (i.e. has only three players)
  2. Serving order must be submitted to the officials before the start of each game.

The Serve

The act of putting the ball into play by the player in the right back position who hits the ball with one hand (open or closed) or any part of one arm in an effort to direct the ball into the opponent’s team area.

  1. After being clearly released or thrown from the hand(s) of the server, the ball shall be cleanly hit for service (EXCEPTION: If, after releasing or tossing the ball for service, the server allows the ball to fall to the floor without being  hit or contacted, the service effort shall be canceled and a re-serve directed. However, the referee will not allow the game to be delayed in this manner more than one time during any term of service).
  2. At the instant the ball is contacted for service, the server shall not have any portion of the body in contact with the end line, the court or the playing area outside the lines marking the width of the service area.
  3. The service is considered good if the ball passes over the net without touching other objects or players (except the net).
  4. If the ball is served before the receiving team is ready, the serve shall be canceled and a re-serve directed.
    1. A second occasion during a game by the same player results in a loss of service.
  5. Serving Faults: The referee will signal a change of service to the other team when one of the following serving faults occur:
    1. The ball passes under the net.
    2. The ball does not pass completely over the net.
    3. The ball touches a player of the serving team or any object before i.e. ceiling, backboard supports entering the opponent’s team area.
    4. The ball lands outside the limits of the opponent’s team court.
    5. If the ball touches the net while going over on the serve, the serve is legal and not a serve fault.
  6. Service in Subsequent Games: The team not serving first in the preceding game of a match shall serve first in the next game.
  7. Illegal Serve: A serve is illegal and the ball remains dead if the server:
    1. Hits the ball illegally
    2. Is touching the end line or the floor outside the serving area when the ball is contacted
    3. Does not contact the ball to serve within 8 seconds
    4. Is out of serving order or is from the wrong team
    5. Deliberately serves before the other team is ready to receive the serve
    6. Releases the ball for service, then catches it or drops it to the floor more than once during one term of service.

Live Ball/Dead Ball

  1. A live ball is in play from the moment of legal contact on the serve.
  2. A live ball becomes dead when:
    1. The ball touches the net antennas, the net outside the antennas or does not pass entirely between the antennas.
    2. The ball lands out of bounds, passes under the net or touches the floor.
    3. The ball touches the ceiling or an overhead obstruction on the third hit or the ball is played over the net.
    4. A player commits a foul.
    5. An official blows a whistle.

Out of Bounds

  1. A ball is out of bounds and becomes dead when:
    1. It touches the ground or objects on the ground completely outside the court’s boundary lines.
    2. It touches the net antennas, the net outside the antennas or does not pass over the net entirely between the antennas.
    3. It touches a non-player or the referee.
    4. It enters a non-playable area (off the sand court).
  2. The referee will stop play for ball out of bounds and will award a point and side out to the opponent.

Contacting the Ball

  1. A contact is any touch of the ball by a player (excluding a player’s loose hair)
  2. A team shall have no more than 3 hits before the ball crosses the net into the opponent’s playing area. A block does not count as a team hit.
  3. A ball is considered to have crossed the net when it has passed beyond the vertical plane of the net, it is partially over the net and is contacted by an opponent or no part of the ball has crossed the net and it is legally blocked.
  4. Legal contact is a touch of the ball by a player’s body that does not allow the ball to visibly come to rest or involve prolonged contact with a player’s body.
  5. A joust occurs when two opponents cause the ball to come to rest above the net through simultaneous contact. A joust is not a foul and play continues.
  6. Multiple contacts are more than one contact by a player during one attempt to play the ball. Multiple contacts are permitted and counted as one hit only when the first ball over the net rebounds from one part of a player’s body to other parts in one attempt to block or on any first team hit, whether or not the ball is touched by the block.
  7. Simultaneous contact is more than one contact of the ball made at the same instant. When a player contacts the ball with one or more parts of the body at the same instant, it is considered one hit. When teammates contact the ball at the same instant it is considered one hit and any player may make the next hit. When opposing players contact the ball at the same instant, the player on the opposite side of the net from which the ball falls shall be considered the player who touched the ball last.
  8. Successive contacts of the ball are two or more separate attempts to play the ball by one player with no interrupting contact by a different player. A player shall not have successive contacts unless there is simultaneous contact or successive contacts by a player whose first contact is a block
  9. Setting over:
    1. Setting over is legal at any position in sand volleyball unless the ball comes to rest in palm or is lifted over.
  10. Tipping the ball:
    1. “Open hand” tipping is illegal (signal “illegal attack”).
    2. To dink legally, all fingers in contact with the ball must be “rigid and together”.
    3. Knuckles are exempted. The rule is intended to address fingertip control
  11. PENALTIES FOR ILLEGAL CONTACT: Point or side out awarded to the opponent.
    1. A team has more than 3 hits or a single player has 2 consecutive hits
    2. There is any illegal contact, successive contacts and/or multiple contacts of the ball.

Player Action

  1. Pass – A play in which the ball is hit into the air so another player can get into position to contact the ball.
    1. Forearm Pass – a controlled skill, generally used as a team’s first hit, in which the ball rebounds the forearms of the receiver to a teammate.
    2. Overhead pass (setting action) – two-hand finger action directing the ball to a teammate.
    3. Dig- An underhand or overhead defensive saving skill in which the ball is contacted by the forearms, fists, or hands.
    4. Attack – Any play adding force and/or direction to the ball with the intention of returning the ball to an opponent. A team’s third hit is always considered an attack.
    5. Spike – an attack play in which the ball is forcibly hit into the opponent’s court with a one-hand overhead motion.
    6. Tip/Dink – a fingertip attack on the ball which directs the ball into the opponent’s court.
    7. Dump – a fingertip attack most commonly used by a setter on the second hit.
    8. Overhead Pass – two-hand finger action directing the ball over the net.
  2. Block – a play approximately arm’s length from the net in which a player(s) whose hand(s) is raised above the head, contacts the ball near the top of the net in an attempt to:
    1. prevent the ball from crossing the net, including a served ball;
    2. return the ball immediately;
    3. Deflect the motion of the ball.

Net Play

  1. A ball contacting and crossing the net will remain in play provided contact is entirely within net antennas.
  2. A player can recover a ball hit into the net.
  3. A player may not contact a ball that is completely on the opponent’s side of the net unless that contact is a legal block. Reaching over the net is illegal.
  4. A net foul occurs when the ball is in play and a player crosses into the opposing teams area of play or if contact with the net impedes the play.
  5. Under:
    1. There is no center line (literally) or in the sense of team possession.
    2. Players may cross into the opponent’s area (generally during “pursuit” or during an attempt to save a ball in or under the net) as long as they do not interfere with the opponents.
    3. Note: Pursuit is legal
      1. The first or second ball must pass over or outside of an antenna.
      2. The ball must be played back over/outside the same antenna.
      3. Within the teams three contacts, must send the ball properly through the crossing space.
      4. Pursuit outdoors allows a player to pursue across the opponents’ court during their attempt. PLAYERS MAY NOT PURSUE A BALL BY TRAVELING UNDER THE NET AND ONTO THE OPPONENT’S SIDE OF THE COURT. They must run around the net.
    4. PENALTIES FOR ILLEGAL NET PLAY: Point and side out awarded to the opponent.

Blocking

  1. Blocking the ball that is entirely on the opponent’s side of the net is permitted when the opposing team has had an opportunity to complete its attack. The attack is considered complete when the opposing team has had three hits, the attacking team has had the opportunity to spike the ball or directs the ball with the intention of returning it to the opponent, or the ball is falling near the net and in the official’s judgment, no member of the attacking team could play the ball.
  2. Blocking a serve is not permitted.
  3. A ball may be attacked, excluding a served ball, when it has partially crossed the net.
  4. PENALTIES FOR ILLEGAL BLOCKING: Point and side out awarded to the opponent.

Fouls

  1. A foul is a failure to play as permitted by the rules.
  2. A double foul occurs when opposing players commit rule violations at the same time.
  3. A double hit occurs when a player’s successive or multiple contacts are illegal.
  4. A foot fault occurs when a player violates the serving area or centerline restrictions.
  5. PENALTIES FOR FOULS: For a single foul (double hit, foot fault, etc.) point and side out is awarded to the opponent. For a double foul during a live ball play, a replay is called. For a double foul during a dead ball, the penalty is assessed to both teams, with both teams rotating.

Replay

A replay is the act of putting the ball in play without awarding a point or side out or rotating for the serve. A replay is awarded when:

  1. An official’s mistaken whistle interrupts play.
  2. A player unintentionally serves prior to the referee’s signal to serve.
  3. There is a double foul during a live ball.
  4. There are conflicting calls which the referee cannot resolve.
  5. A player’s legitimate effort to play the ball is affected by a non-player in a playable area or by the ball becoming motionless in the net inside the net antennas or on an overhead obstruction over a playable area.
  6. Play is interrupted because a foreign object enters the proximity of the playing area, or a player is injured.