Section 5: Rules of Play
Match Format
- Best of 5 sets
- Sets 1-4: rally scoring to 25 points, must win by 2
- Set 5 (decider, only if needed): rally scoring to 15 points, must win by 2
- No upper cap; deuce continues until a 2-point margin is achieved
Service and Rally
- Service rotation: clockwise position rotation each side-out
- Serve must clear the net within the antennas; serve may contact the net (let serve permitted)
- Each team may contact the ball up to 3 times before returning over the net (block contact does not count as one of the 3 in indoor volleyball)
- Switching sides between sets; teams switch in set 5 at 8 points
Timeouts
- Two team timeouts per set (60 seconds each in NCAA)
- Technical timeouts at 8 and 16 points in sets 1-4 (per NCAA framework / conference adoption)