GSU Volleyball League Rules

Version: 28 March 2008

1. The league uses standard FIVB Indoor Volleyball Rules except as noted below. If the team captain is not familiar with the rules, he/she should download the rules and read them over.

2. Maximum of 6 players on the court, with a maximum of 4 men on the court at any time. Teams may play with fewer than 6 players, but the maximum of 4 men players is always in effect. There is no minimum number of players needed, but:
   • A default in the regular schedule will result in the defaulting team being dropped from the league unless there is a very very very good reason for the default. All matches involving a "dropped" team are removed from the standings.
   • A team automatically defaults the set if it has only men or only women on the court at any time during the match, unless both team captains agree to let play continue.
   • While a waiting list of teams wishing to enter the league exists, a team should have at least 5 players on the court at all times; if a team does not, please inform the League Coordinator.

3. Players may play for only 1 team in the league (not for 1 team in each Division) - teams that can't get enough players to be independent will be dropped from the league, and all matches involving such players will be scored as default losses. The only time it is acceptable for players to play for another team is "pick-up" to use available gym time, where the match does not count.

4. It is dangerous and unsportmanslike to have high caliber (e.g. (ex-)varsity players) on Intermediate B and/or Recreation division teams - there is no way to create / enforce a rule about eligibility, but common sense should tell the captain and the player that spiking the ball at/near unprepared players is going to result in an injury sooner or later.

5. Match scoring:
   • Competitive Division matches are 3 sets to 25 points (27 point cap) using the rally point scoring system with 1 hour time slots. Standings are based on percentage of sets won only, and all 3 sets "count"; if the 3rd set is not completed by the end of the time slot, it does not count.
     Competitive Division play should commence within 10 minutes of the start of the time slot.
   • The Intermediate and Recreation Divisions matches are 3 sets to 25 points (27 point cap) using the rally point scoring system (where a point is scored on each serve by one of the teams) in 1 hour time slots. Standings are based on percentage of sets won only, and all 3 sets "count". For the third set, the team leading at the end of the time wins the set; if the set is tied, hopefully the incoming teams will let the match continue for one more point, and will keep out of the way as much as possible.
     If the teams can't resolve a tie quickly or don't want to, it is fine to record the match result as 2-0 or 1-1.
     The teams can play for fun to complete the time slot.
     Intermediate/Recreation Division play should commence within 10 minutes of the start of the time slot.

6. Teams still waiting for members after the "warm-up" period can either play with what they've got (see rule 1 though),
   or default the entire match at that point,
   or if they expect their players to show up, just default the first set. In the last case, the teams would then play a "fun set" (that does not count since it was already defaulted), with whatever bodies are present. When that "fun set" is completed, if the team in default is still in default, they lose the second set by default as well; the teams would then play another "fun set" that does not count (they've already lost 2 sets). If the missing player(s) show up during the "fun set", the match starts for real at that point, with the set score 1-0 or 2-0; the "fun set" in progress need not be completed.
   Late players can be added to the line-up at any time.

7. While there are no explicit substition rules / limits, teams should establish a substition pattern (e.g. when rotating, the player who was serving goes off; or, a team could play half-sets with a fixed line-up then switch bodies at 13 points). To maintain a maximum of 4 men on the court, a team would/could skip substituting when a women was serving if there are no women sitting off at that time.
   Under no circumstances, except injury, can a player leaving the front row upon rotation return to the front row until that players position has returned to the front row by rotation.

8. THE MATCH SCORE MUST BE ENTERED ON THE GSU VOLLEYBALL LEAGUE WEB SITE. UNREPORTED SCORES COUNT AS DOUBLE DEFAULTS (WHICH WILL AFFECT REGISTRATION OF THE TEAM IN THE LEAGUE FOR THE FOLLOWING YEAR).

9. There are no referees - players are responsible for calling infractions of the rules as appropriate to the division of play.
   • Matches are played in the spirit of competitiveness and fair play. Sportsmanship is the key goal. The enjoyment of the game and the quality of the league (especially at the Competitive / Intermediate A levels) depends on every player. If everyone does their part, all can have a great season of volleyball.
   • Due to the short time slots, there are no time-outs during the set, and teams should take only a short (1 minute) water / strategy break between sets.
   • In Competitive and Intermediate A, all players are expected to call their own faults, and to call the lines properly. All net touches are immediate faults (unless the ball from the other side pushes the net into the player), a volley at/below the chest is most likely a lift, and any palm-up open-hand hit under the ball should be called a "lift" immediately by the offending side. Note that a lot of what would normally be called a double hit is legal off a serve / spike.
     If in doubt, call it, as it was probably a fault.
     If the players won't make the call, the team captain must step in and take action; it should never be required that the opposing team gets involved in discussions about the play of your team.
   • While it should be obvious, specifically:
     it is unsportmanslike to delay a time-limited set when you are ahead;
     it is unsportmanslike to do anything except roll the ball gently by hand under the net to the serving team after the point is complete - no kicking, no throwing;
     it is unsportmanslike to serve before the other team is ready, but teams can not take a long time to get ready to receive serve either (5 seconds should be sufficient);
     it is unsportmanslike to have players show up to meet the default rules, then have them stand at the edge of the court (or out of the court after the ball is served) not "allowed" to touch the ball - if you have players come out, let them play, or find others who can.
   • Unsportsmanlike behaviour will result in the ejection of your team from the league permanently.
     If this is happening in the Competitive or Intermediate A divisions, where all players are expected to know the rules of volleyball, the player / team should think about whether they should really be playing in this league.
   • The team captains should agree before the match how strictly they want to call the match.
     • Competitive Division matches should be called very tightly.
     • Intermediate Divisions should call all net and foot violations, leaving ball handling (palming, directing and scooping) to be decided by the captains before the match. In Intermediate A, any play with an open palm facing upwards should be an automatic fault.
     • Recreation Division is "jungle ball" (anything goes - events like 4+ hits on one side, putting the ball into the wall/lights/floor, and attempting to take down the net should be called but not much else). This means that almost all the other rules cited here regarding the finer points of play and/or technique do NOT apply, unless the Recreation Division is specifically mentioned.
   • Regarding disputes over the rules, if the dispute involves a single play during a set, if the captains (only) can not resolve the issue, the point is simply replayed.
   • If the dispute is before the match (which will probably involve the default rules or players coming late), the captains should try to resolve the issue. If they can not, the match should be played "for real", with the score being reported. The captains should then contact the League Coordinator the next day by e-mail with their side of the issue; a decision will be made based on the posted rules.
   • BUT, if the captains agree to an outcome before the match is played, that result will stand regardless of what the rules state. This is in keeping with the general policy that whatever the captains agree on before the match will stand. As a team captain it is your responsibility to know the rules, and to stand by your choices once you make one.
   • In agreement with recent International rule changes, the entire body (including head and feet) may be used to play the ball, and a serve hitting the net and landing in the receiving team's court is good (i.e. a point for the serving team).

10. House rule #1: if the ball touches the wall, roof, rafters, lights or any other obstruction (other than the net / net wire), it is a fault by the team last touching the ball.

11. House rule #2: there is no antenna, real or imaginary, so all shots that get over the net and land in the other court are legal; a shot hitting the blue support posts is out of play.

12. For the service, at least 1 foot must start outside the court (red lines). The server may serve from anywhere between the extensions of the side lines. First service may be decided by a coin flip, ball spin, or a rally (at least 3 times over the net); for subsequent sets, first service should alternate between the teams.
    For the Recreation Division only, there is a limit of 5 serves per player. After that, the serving team rotates 1 position, but keeps serving.

13. Although only 3 hits are allowed per side, the ball may be blocked at the net (a block is made above the top of the net, with the blocker's feet off the floor) and then hit by the same player without penalty for a double hit, and his/her team still has 2 hits remaining - in effect, the block does not count as a hit no matter which player makes the next play. A service may not be blocked or spiked.

14. Players may reach over the top of the net only on the follow-through for a spike or block. A player may never touch the ball when it is entirely in the opponents court (defined by the plane of the net) until after the third hit by the other team.

15. Players may not touch the net at any time, or land with either foot completely across the center red line under the net (DESPITE THE INTERNATIONAL RULE CHANGE PERMITTING THIS - IT IS TOO DANGEROUS).

16. A player starting play in the back row may spike provided he/she leaves the ground behind the red 3 meter line across the court.

17. The GSU gym is very small, and the boundaries of the volleyball court go very close the walls, benches and net supports. Be very careful about going outside the court boundaries to play the ball.
    There is no room for people to even stand along the sidelines, where they may interfere with play in progress. It is annoying and disruptive for teams to enter the gym to do their stretches and chat while another match is in progress. In no case should you enter the gym while play is occurring; wait for the point to be decided.
    Therefore, players waiting should stay outside in the hall until their time begins - there is a clock in the bar, which determines the official start/end time for matches. It would be reasonable to give the teams playing the match a "1 minute warning" during a suitable break in play.
    Players can stretch downstairs in the common room, but watch the very low ceiling.

18. The standings are normally updated on Friday morning; the web site is updated automatically when the entered scores are processed. If there are missing scores at that point, the match will show up with a 0-0 score.
    Score reports / modifications will be accepted up to the following Friday, only for matches from the previous week.
    To "correct" a score from more than 1 week ago, both team captains need to agree in writing (e.g. e-mail) that the posted score is incorrect.
    In case of a dispute, the score submitted will be used, so it is the interest of both captains to make sure the correct score is entered on the web site.
    The "official" standings are ALWAYS what is visible on the GSU Volleyball League web site. Each captain should get in the habit of checking the standings every week on the web site.

19. For all divisions, the final standings are determined by the percentage of sets won. A team must play at least 10 matches (30 sets) to be eligible for the playoffs.
    Ties will first be broken based on the head-to-head record over the season. If a tie still remains and all tied teams will make the playoffs, a draw will be done by the League Coordinator to determine playoff seeding. If a tie still remains and a team will finish out of the playoffs, a sudden-death match will be held to break ties given sufficient time; otherwise, a draw will be done by the League Coordinator in the presence of all affected team captains if at all possible.
    For divisions with less than 7 teams, only the top 2 teams will make the playoff round; for divisions with 7 to 14 teams, the top 4 teams will make the playoffs; for divisions with 15 or more teams, the top 8 teams will make the playoffs given sufficient time to play the matches (playoff matches in this case will be best of 3 in the first round, not best of 5).
    For the Intermediate A and B Divisions, the standings will be used at the start of the next season to switch a few teams from the bottom of Intermediate A with a few teams from the top of Intermediate B.
    There are no playoffs in the Recreation Division; the standings are kept only for the reference of the teams and the League Co-ordinator for re-alignment purposes for next season.

20. Rule changes for playoff matches:
    • The matches are a best of 5 sets, except for first round of playoffs involving 8 teams; the first four sets are to 25 points with a 27 point cap using rally point scoring as usual. The fifth set, if necessary, is to 15 points, win by 2 points, with no cap.
    • One short (30-60 second) time-out per team is allowed during each set, and teams can take a longer (2-3 minute) water / strategy break between sets.
    • A referee will be provided for the Competitive Division playoffs.

21. If a new team captain takes over part way through the year, it is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT that this be conveyed to the League Coordinator. Failure to do so may result in the team being dropped from the league, since the League Coordinator must be able to contact team captains quickly and reliably.

22. To cancel a match, please contact the other team and the League Coordinator as far in advance as possible; if there are teams that do not play that week, one of them will get an extra match. If the match is cancelled with more than 24 hours notice, there is no penalty; with less than 24 hours notice, the match is scored as a default win for the other team.

23. If the University officially closes, which can be seen at the U/Toronto weather web site, matches can probably still be played as the GSU almost always stays open. However, the default rules are no longer in effect.
    If both teams show up and agree to play with whatever players they have, the match counts.
    A team can NOT be forced to play a match, and neither team can claim a default win under any circumstances.
    Otherwise, the captain(s) should report the match as a "no game" (by e-mail), and the teams can play pick-up; you may want to ask players from the previous game to stay around if the numbers are short.
    It is very unlikely any missed matches can be made up later in the schedule.

24. SETTING UP THE NET: See the detailed instructions on the walls of the gym, or on the website.

    Matches are played with the net set at mens height, which means the second hole from the top of the blue net supports, and the second hole from the bottom.

    • PLEASE DO NOT USE THE BOTTOM HOLES IN THE BLUE NET SUPPORTS FOR THE BOTTOM OF THE NET - THIS PUTS TOO MUCH TENSION ON THE NET AND THE ROPES.
    • THERE IS NEVER ANY NEED TO UNTIE ANY ROPES FROM ANY OF THE SPRING CLIPS, OR FROM THE CRANKS.
    • PLEASE DO NOT DO TIE ANY ROPES DIRECTLY TO THE NET OR THE SUPPORT POSTS; ALWAYS USE THE SPRING CLIPS.
    • IF YOU CAN'T LOCATE SOME OF THE SPRING CLIPS, CHECK THE BADMINTON NET AS THEY MAY HAVE BEEN REMOVED WITH IT.
    • PLEASE DO NOT DO CREATIVE KNOT WORK WITH THE NET ROPES.
    • PLEASE DO NOT OVER-TIGHTEN THE NET - THE ROPES ARE 1000+ LB TENSILE STRENGTH, YET THEY ARE BEING BROKEN!

League Coordinator: Mike Peterson, telephone: 416-978-5230 (office), 647-393-4661 (cell), e-mail: mikep@noc.utoronto.ca.

The captains list, rules, schedule and standings are available from "/~mikep/Vb/".