How volleyball scoring works

Volleyball scoring at a glance

How does rally scoring work in volleyball?

Every rally ends with one point for one team. If the serving team wins the rally, it scores and the same player serves again. If the receiving team wins it, it scores and takes the serve. Winning the serve back like this is called a side-out.

Every point is worth the same. An ace, a kill, a block and a mistake by the other team each add 1 point, so the score only ever moves up by one. The referee can also hand out a point: a penalty (red card), given for rude conduct or a repeated delay, gives the opponents a point and the serve. A warning (yellow card) costs nothing.

Rally scoring is the opposite of side-out scoring, where only the serving team can score and a rally won by the receivers only wins back the serve. Under the FIVB rules every set is rally scored, the fifth included.

How many points are in a volleyball set?

A set, often called a game in casual play, goes to 25 points in sets 1 to 4, and the winner needs a lead of at least 2. At 25-23 the set is over; at 25-24 it is not. From 24-24, play simply continues until one team is 2 points clear, so a set can end 26-24, 27-25 or 30-28. There is no cap and no tiebreak.

A team one point away from winning the set has set point. If winning that set would also win the match, it is match point.

Here is the end of a close fourth set. Watch the score move by one on every rally, the serve pass to whoever won the last one, and the set end the moment a team reaches 25 with a 2-point lead.

How many sets are in a volleyball match?

An indoor match is best of 5 sets: the first team to win 3 sets wins. The match stops as soon as that happens, so it can finish 3-0, 3-1 or 3-2 and lasts three, four or five sets.

Every set starts again at 0-0, and points never carry over. A finished match is written as its set scores, winner first: the match above ended 25-20, 22-25, 25-21, 25-23 to Blues. Teams change courts after each set, except before the deciding set, which starts with a new toss.

How does the fifth set work in volleyball?

The fifth set is only played when the match is tied at two sets all. It is the deciding set, and it is shorter: the first team to 15 points with a lead of at least 2 wins it, and the match. The 2-point rule still applies and there is still no cap, so 14-14 plays on to 16-14, 17-15 and so on.

Two more things change in the deciding set. A new toss decides who serves first and which court each team starts on, and the teams change courts once, when the leading team reaches 8 points, keeping the same player positions.

Who serves in volleyball, and when do teams rotate?

The team that wins the rally serves next. At the start of a set, the toss decides the first serve in set 1 and set 5. In sets 2, 3 and 4 the first serve goes to the team that did not serve first in the previous set, whichever team won it.

Each team has 6 players on court, three in the front row and three in the back. When a team wins the serve back from the other team, its players rotate one position clockwise, and the player who moves into the right back position serves. A team that wins a rally on its own serve does not rotate: the same player keeps serving until the team loses a rally.

Rotation never changes how a rally is scored. It decides who serves and who plays at the net, which is why the score alone does not tell you which player serves next.

How is volleyball scored in US high school and college?

Mostly the same way as international volleyball: rally scoring, sets to 25 and a deciding set to 15, all won by 2 with no cap. High school matches have more local options:

One difference you may notice away from the score: in US college women's volleyball and in high school volleyball the libero may serve in one rotation position, which FIVB rules do not allow. Youth, club and recreational leagues set their own formats too, such as best of 3 sets or shorter sets, so check your league or state association's rules before the first serve. For the sand game, see beach volleyball scoring.

What else does a volleyball scorekeeper track?

Beyond the points, an official scorer keeps a few counts that limit what each team can do in a set. Under the FIVB rules:

• Time-outs: 2 per team per set, 30 seconds each.
• Substitutions: 6 per team per set. Libero replacements do not count towards them.
• Service order: each team's rotation order, checked at every serve so the right player serves.
• Set scores and court changes: each finished set, and the change of courts at 8 points in the fifth set.
• Sanctions: warnings and penalties, since a red card also changes the score.

US college and high school rules set their own time-out and substitution limits, so use your competition's rulebook for those counts.