Volleyball Beach Rules

Thank you for playing at Volleyball Beach! We hope you enjoy many hours of fun, exercise, entertainment, and competition. The following rules apply to your play at Volleyball Beach:

Fun/Age

1. Our number one focus is to provide a fun and relaxed environment within the context of sport competition. If you are detracting from that in any way or violating any of our rules, we reserve the right to temporarily or permanently evict you and/or your whole team.

2. All players and guests at Volleyball Beach enter our complex at their own risk. Adults are 100% responsible for minors and guests they bring to our facility.  Please keep your kids by your team’s table and do not let them loose.  They could get seriously injured or even killed if not properly supervised.

3. You must be 18 to play in our volleyball leagues. To be allowed on the Volleyball Beach premises, an individual must be at least 21 years old or accompanied by their parent or legal guardian.

4. You must be 21 to drink alcohol at Volleyball Beach and be able to provide ID showing that you are 21. We reserve the right to withhold alcohol from any patron at our sole discretion. You are not allowed to enter or leave our premises intoxicated or to bring in outside liquor or food. We reserve the right to impose a $100 charge if any clean-up is necessary as a result of your intoxicated condition.

5. We do not allow marijuana or illegal drug use at Volleyball Beach.

Leagues

6. Our leagues generally have 4 levels: A (power), BB (low power/upper intermediate), B (intermediate), and C (recreational). We distinguish among them as follows, generally. C League should consist of teams who do not regularly hit the ball 3 times before sending it over the net and teams that never spike the ball with downward authority. B League teams routinely hit the ball three times before sending it over the net but do not have more than one player who can spike with downward authority. BB League teams generally have more than one person who can hit with downward authority and can cover the court well defensively. However, these teams lack the consistency or power of an A League team. A League teams are highly competitive with more than one player who can hit with downward authority and include those with collegiate or similar experience. No player who spikes with downward authority should play in C League, and no elite power hitters (you know who you are!) should play in either B or C Leagues.

7. Contrary to prior sessions, the first night of league play will count in the standings even if you end up playing a team that should be at a different skill level. We reserve the right to move your team to the level we deem the most compatible regardless of the league you registered for. If you believe your team has registered for or been slotted in the wrong division, please let us know as soon as possible so we can review the situation and if appropriate adjust the schedule for the rest of the session.

8. Our leagues are subject to weather and holidays. We reserve the right to cancel, suspend, or delay the start of matches in the event of inclement weather. We will try to keep the website (first) and voicemail greeting (second) current with weather updates. If we determine that leagues are playable, you are welcome not to play if you are not comfortable with the conditions. If we must cancel league play as a result of weather, we will endeavor to reschedule the matches, but it is not always possible.

9. All teams should arrive prior to league time and check in at the volleyball desk. We attempt to cover absent teams promptly. Any team arriving after the start of play risks forfeiting one or more games.

10. Byes – We don’t have them. If your team shows in the system as having a bye, you are still on the schedule. What that means is you are in a league with an odd amount of teams. Therefore you are being paired up with a team from another division that also has an odd number for that hour. The games will count. You will not be paired with a team that is more than 1 division difference. This is done to prevent having to move a team to an inappropriate level for an entire season.

11. Games are self-refereed. All teams should call their own violations. Any dispute should result in the point being replayed. If disputes persist, please notify the volleyball coordinators and we will monitor the matches. This is rare. If we become aware of physical or verbal abuse, intimidation, or audible cursing, of any kind, refer to Rule No. 1.

12. Each match consists of 3 games to 21, rally scoring. You must win by 2 and there is no cap. If you lose the first 2 games, you still play the 3rd game. The third game is over when we call time and the leading team wins, even if ahead by only one point. If the time call is made during a point, you should finish that point. If there is a tie when we call time, play one more point. Don’t finish on a tie. Wind Rule: During the 3rd game, once a team reaches 11 points, the teams will switch sides for the remainder of that game.

Game Rules – Coed 6’s

13. Teams may have as many people on the roster as they desire, but only six are allowed on the court at one time and each team must have at least as many females as males on the court at all times. If a team reports to the volleyball desk scorekeepers that its opponent did not have enough females, we treat those games as a forfeit (even if the reporting team told the opponent it was okay that they did not have enough females). Oftentimes, the volleyball desk workers can find additional fill-in players if someone on your team is missing.

14. All players must be in service order on the court when the ball is served. After the serve, players may move to any position, subject to Rule 19. Service order need not be alternating men and women though that is by far the most common.

15. Serves shall be hit with one hand or any part of the arm after being tossed or released from the hand. Any serve that touches the net and goes over is playable unless it lands out of bounds.

16. The server must serve one underhanded serve after each series of 3 consecutive overhand serves.

17. Each team can hit the ball a maximum of 3 times before sending the ball over the net. A block at the net does not count as a hit.

18. If more than one person on your team hits the ball, one of them must be a female before it goes over the net. The order doesn’t matter. And please note that a block does not count as a hit, so a male can partially block a ball and then a male teammate can send it over the net.

19. Any player who is in the back row when the ball is served cannot block at the net or spike the ball unless they are at least 10 feet from the net.

20. No throws, catches, lifts, or carries are allowed, except slight lifts or carries are allowed in B and C leagues. A slight double hit by hands or fingers is allowed when defending a hard-hit ball and counts as only one hit.

21. Any part of the body may contact the ball during play except while serving. Yes, this means you can use your feet to play a ball. (Added Fall 2024).

22. Any touching of the net is a violation with one exception: if the force of the ball into the net pushes the net into a blocker with an established arm position, the net touching is not a violation. There are no other exceptions, even when the touching does not affect the play. Any touching of the cables, pvc, or poles outside the antenna are not faults as long as it doesn’t interfere with the play which in most cases would apply to bringing the net down.

23. Unintentional contact under the net is acceptable so long as there is no interference with the other team’s play.

24. Blocks of serves are prohibited, and no person in the front row can receive and return a serve with a hit above the shoulders unless the ball is completely below the top of the net when it is hit.

25. Attacking a serve is a violation that occurs when upon serving, a receiving team player first contacts the ball above the height of the net, sending it back to the serving team’s side.

26. No player may reach over the net except with a full or partial block of an attack from your opponent. You may also reach over with a follow-through of a swing if the ball is on the attacking player’s side or above the plane of the net when struck. Any ball above the plane of the net is fair game for both teams, even if most of the ball is on one side or the other. Reaching over the net to block a set is prohibited. You may NOT attack a ball that is completely on your opponent’s side of the net within the playing area.

27. If players on opposing teams simultaneously maintain extended contact on a ball above the net (a joust), and as a result the ball lands out of bounds, it is a point for the team on the side where the ball landed out of bounds (as if the opposing “jouster” pushed the ball out of bounds).

28. Any ball that hits the net antenna or wood post on the net is out.

29. For gender purposes, we will treat a player as the gender they identify with, but reserve the right to evaluate a situation on a case-by-case basis if there is a problem. We ask that the team with the gender-identifying player not take advantage of this rule (for instance, we don’t want 4 downward hitters on a team), and that their opponents demonstrate tolerance in this context. We anticipate deviation from our general rule will be rare and occur only if the gender issue is causing unfair advantage in play.

30. No player should enter an adjacent occupied court in order to play a ball. If that is required, you lose the point.

31. The teams can volley or rock-paper-scissors before the first game to select who serves, or just decide arbitrarily. The other team serves the second game, and then the loser of the second game serves the third game.

32. For leagues in the dome, any ball that hits the lights or fabric continues to be playable as long as the ball is on your team’s side of the net. If not, it is the other team’s point.

Game Rules – 4’s Leagues

33. Our 4’s leagues consist of any combination of men and women. Rules 13, 14, 16, 18 & 19 above do not apply.

34. 4’s teams must rotate the serve but otherwise may play in any position when the ball is served.

35. Any attack hit with the fingers using an open-handed tip or “dink” is prohibited.

36. Any overhand pass, push, or set over the net is prohibited in the 4’s leagues unless the player’s shoulders are parallel to the net and the ball travels perpendicular to the net.

37. We do not allow open-hand receipt of serves in the A level of our 4’s leagues. It is acceptable in the B and C leagues so long as there is not an obvious double-hit or carry upon receipt of the serve.