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| Scorer's table just before a game |
When the ball contacts the floor within the court boundaries or an
error is made, the team that did not make the error is awarded a point,
whether they served the ball or not. If the ball hits the line, the ball
is counted as in. The team that won the point serves for the next
point. If the team that won the point served in the previous point, the
same player serves again. If the team that won the point did not serve
the previous point, the players of the team rotate their position on the
court in a clockwise manner. The game continues, with the first team to
score 25 points by a two-point margin is awarded the set. Matches are
best-of-five sets and the fifth set, if necessary, is usually played to
15 points. (Scoring differs between leagues, tournaments, and levels;
high schools sometimes play best-of-three to 25; in the NCAA matches are played best-of-five to 25 as of the 2008 season.)
Before 1999, points could be scored only when a team had the serve (
side-out scoring)
and all sets went up to only 15 points. The FIVB changed the rules in
1999 (with the changes being compulsory in 2000) to use the current
scoring system (formerly known as
rally point system), primarily to make the length of the match more predictable and to make the game more spectator- and television-friendly.
The final year of side-out scoring at the NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship was 2000. Rally point scoring debuted in 2001 and games were played to 30 points through 2007. For the 2008 season, games were renamed "sets" and reduced to 25 points to win.
