Basic Tournament Rules & Guidelines:

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•    Each team has a designated captain. 
•    The captain will work with their team to decide a line-up & it must include all team members. Team members must stay in that order throughout the set. Line-ups can be changed before each set begins but must include all team members.  No changes can be made to a line-up during a set. 
•    The captains of each team will meet before the 1st set of each match to determine who serves 1st, or side of court. Flip a coin, rock-paper-scissors…it doesn’t matter. If a captain chooses to serve, the other team gets to pick the side of the court.  If the captain chooses the side of the court the other team gets 1st serve.  
•    For the 2nd set, teams switch sides of the court & the other team gets to serve first. 
•    If a 3rd set is needed the captains will meet again to determine the serve/ side of the court. 
•    We will utilize the standard “snake rotation”. Teams cannot use subs or Liberos. 
•    Teams have 8 members. Only 6 can be on the playing court. One “out” player rotates in at the serve position, the other rotates in at the left front row.  This is how we usually play when we have 8. If, for any reason, a team only has 7 players, the “out” player rotates in at the serve position.  
•    If a player is hurt & must come out, simply sub in an “out” player. 
•    Any injured player, that leaves mid-set, must wait until the next set to be put back in the line-up. 
•    Ceiling obstacle rules apply. If your team hits the ceiling, or any obstacle on the ceiling (light, fan, basketball goal, etc), and the ball comes down on the opponent’s side, it’s the opponent’s point. If it comes back down on your side, and you have hits left, you may continue to play it. 
•    The ball cannot be played off the walls, bleachers, floor fans, tables, or support posts of the gym. 
•    A ball cannot be played if it has to be chased into the playing lines of the other court. 
•    If a ball, or player, from the other court interferes with play on your court, you may replay the point. 
•    Foot Fault rules will be enforced when serving.  
•    Back-row players cannot cross the 10’ line to attack a ball.
•    A player cannot reach over the net to play a ball unless the ball has cleared the vertical plane of the net. 
•    If we are unable to secure line judges, then we will play by our usual honor system. If we do have line judges, they get to make the call. If any part of the ball contacts any part of the line, it is “in”.  
•    Net calls:  we do not penalize players for coming in contact with the net unless the net gets grabbed and/ or pulled in a downward motion by the hitter or blocker, or if the net is pushed far enough inward that the player steps into the opposing court.
•    Blocking the serve is an illegal hit and will result in a point for the serving team.
•    Double-elimination rules apply to the championship match. Meaning, if it’s the first loss of the tournament, for the team that loses the championship match, an If-Match will be required. This will be one set to 25 points (must win by 2 points).  The winner of the If-Match is the champion. 
•    Hopefully we will not have any huge disputes! We should be able to work it out, even if the point has to be replayed.  Opposing teams shouldn’t argue with one another. Let the captains work through any disputes together.