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| Buddhist monks play volleyball in the Himalayan state of Sikkim, India. |
Each team consists of six players. To get play started, a team is chosen to serve by coin toss.
A player from the serving team throws the ball into the air and
attempts to hit the ball so it passes over the net on a course such that
it will land in the opposing team's court (the
serve). The
opposing team must use a combination of no more than three contacts with
the volleyball to return the ball to the opponent's side of the net.
These contacts usually consist first of the
bump or
pass so that the ball's trajectory is aimed towards the player designated as the
setter; second of the
set
(usually an over-hand pass using wrists to push finger-tips at the
ball) by the setter so that the ball's trajectory is aimed towards a
spot where one of the players designated as an
attacker can hit it, and third by the
attacker who
spikes
(jumping, raising one arm above the head and hitting the ball so it
will move quickly down to the ground on the opponent's court) to return
the ball over the net. The team with possession of the ball that is
trying to attack the ball as described is said to be on
offense.
The team on
defense attempts to prevent the attacker from
directing the ball into their court: players at the net jump and reach
above the top (and if possible, across the plane) of the net to
block
the attacked ball. If the ball is hit around, above, or through the
block, the defensive players arranged in the rest of the court attempt
to control the ball with a
dig (usually a fore-arm pass of a hard-driven ball). After a successful dig, the team transitions to offense.
The game continues in this manner, rallying back and forth, until the
ball touches the court within the boundaries or until an error is made.
The most frequent errors that are made are either to fail to return the
ball over the net within the allowed three touches, or to cause the
ball to land outside the court. A ball is "in" if any part of it touches
a sideline or end-line, and a strong spike may compress the ball enough
when it lands that a ball which at first appears to be going out may
actually be in. Players may travel well outside the court to play a ball
that has gone over a sideline or end-line in the air.
Other common errors include a player touching the ball twice in
succession, a player "catching" the ball, a player touching the net
while attempting to play the ball, or a player penetrating under the net
into the opponent's court. There are a large number of other errors
specified in the rules, although most of them are infrequent
occurrences. These errors include back-row or libero players spiking the
ball or blocking (back-row players may spike the ball if they jump from
behind the attack line), players not being in the correct position when
the ball is served, attacking the serve in the front court and above
the height of the net, using another player as a source of support to
reach the ball, stepping over the back boundary line when serving,
taking more than 8 seconds to serve, or playing the ball when it is above the opponent's court.
