Make a Pass in the Grass!
We’ve played on hardwood, we’ve played on sand, and now we’re playing on grass! In the spirit of grass volleyball, this will be a chill league. We even ditched the refs.
There are two divisions:
Competitive – You’ll be playing Quads in TCSS!
Recreational – Traditional 6-on-6 that you know and love!
There are two divisions:
Competitive – You’ll be playing Quads in TCSS!
Recreational – Traditional 6-on-6 that you know and love!
Every Player must agree to the Rules and Social Policy.
Competitive League Quads Grass Volleyball Rules
Listed here are the key differences for Quads. All other rules will be equivalent to those listed in the regular 6-on-6 rules below. If there is a discrepancy between the Quads rules listed here and the general rules in the 6-on-6 section, the Quads rules supersede. Disclaimer, these rules may not be all-encompassing. We reserve the right to address and implement rules that were inadvertently missed here.
Roster
Team rosters shall include a minimum of 5 total players, including a minimum of 2 girls.
Maximum number of players on the court is 4 per team with a minimum of 2 girls on-court. There is no maximum number of girls on the court.
Rotation
For quads, no rotation is required for on-court positions. Serving order rotation must be maintained, however. Likewise for players rotating in from the sideline. Players that rotate in from the sideline are serving.
-A female can move ahead of a male in order to keep the gender requirement on the court. For example, a team has 2 females and 3 males available. During a side out and during the rotation to serving, if a male is currently not in play and a female would be rotated out, the female may skip the male who would be rotating in and move directly to serving. That male would sit out until the next rotation, unless another girl is next in the serving order.
Returns
If all three hits are used, one must be played by a female.
*Regarding returns over the net*: No setting or tipping over the net is allowed. Doing so results in the loss of the point. All returns over the net must be hits or passes/bumps. Hits consist of an overhand/open palm swing. Closed fist hits of any angle are also permitted.
In a nutshell, hitting the ball over the net should be a swing, closed fist or bump.
The first hit on a return may be passed not only by bump, but also any other legal hit.
There is no Attack Line in Quads.
Rec League 6-on-6 Grass Volleyball Rules
-Note- Key difference from Indoor and Sand Rules: in the tradition of Grass Volleyball, teams will referee and score themselves.
In the event of a call that cannot be resolved by the two teams, the point will be replayed.
In the event of a game where the two teams have become contentious and cannot reliably continue to referee the games themselves, then a referee shall be instituted for the remainder of the match. The referee shall be either a player from another team or a Tri-Cities Social Sports (TCSS) official.
Let’s try not to institute the referee rule. This is a social sports league. Let’s keep it friendly.
The remainder of the rules are equivalent to normal 6-on-6 indoor/sand volleyball rules and are listed below.
We know this is an adult social sports league. However, no alcohol is permitted on Johnson City parks, school, and church grounds. Help us in protecting access to these facilities by waiting until to you get to the sponsor bar after the game.
Behavior
Each player is required to display good sportsmanship, and respect to the Game Officials, league staff and other players at all times. Rude/aggressive/vulgar language, fighting, or other negative behavior will result in points taken away, ejection from the game, team forfeit, or by being banned from the league and/or Tri-Cities Social Sports (TCSS) altogether based on the severity of the incident.
Issues with play or calls are addressed above. If a third-party referee is instituted, issues can be addressed to the referee by the captains of the teams and the captains only. ‘Replays/re-serves’ can be issued at the instituted referee’s discretion for close/unsure calls situations.
Equipment/Jerseys
Games will be played with a TCSS issued ball.
There is no team color or league shirt policy for this season of Grass Volleyball.
Roster
Team rosters shall include a minimum of the 8 players, including at least 3 of each gender.
Teams may use a substitute player as long as they are registered as a substitute or are a registered player on a different team in the league. No substitutes are allowed in the end-of-season tournament.
Subs taken from within the league must be from the same division. Max 1 sub per game. If a team still does not meet the gender and/or roster minimum with 1 sub added, then ‘Ghost Rule’ will still take effect.
Maximum number of players on the court is 6 per team with at least 2 of each gender. Minimum is 4 with at least 1 of each gender. Less than 4 players and/or 1 of each gender will result in a forfeit.
If a team does not have 6 players and/or does not meet the minimum gender requirement, then the ‘ghost rule’ will apply (see below for the ‘ghost rule’). When a team has fewer than the required number of players of a specified gender available, players of one gender may not be substituted for members of another gender. For example, if a team has 6 total players available at game time, but only 1 is female, the team must play short with 5 players.
Team captains have the right to question an opposing team’s roster and verify that each player is a registered player on the roster or a registered sub.
Ghost Rule
Teams that do not have 6 players and/or do not meet the gender minimum will start each game with a 3 point deficit (game will start with 0-3 in favor of the other team). If additional players arrive that will make a 6 player team or meet the gender minimum, they can join the current game, but the current 3 point deficit will stay in effect until the next game begins. If both teams do not meet the player minimum (6 total players or gender minimum) then the ‘ghost rule’ will be waived, and the game will start as normal with a score of 0-0.
Rotation
All teams shall rotate clockwise to the next position prior to serving after a side-out.
The player in the front-right position will always rotate off the court, and the next player waiting on the sideline rotates into the server's position. Optionally, if a team has more than one player on the sideline, then players in the front-right and the back-left positions may both rotate out and incoming players take the server and the front-left positions.
When 6 players are on court, there shall be 3 players in the front row and 3 players in the back row. When 5 players are on the court, there shall be 3 players in the front row and 2 players in the back row. When there are 4 players on the court, there shall be 3 players in the front row and 1 player in the back row.
Players can move from their positions in motion, but the purpose of the back row designation is that those players cannot hit from the front row position. This rule is also referenced in the “Returns” section below.
Once the game begins, the rotation order cannot be changed. Two exceptions to this:
-Players arriving late may join a game in progress by adding themselves to the sideline rotation.
-A gender can move ahead of another gender in order to keep the gender requirement on the court. For example, a team has 2 females and 5 males available. During a side out and during the rotation to the server position, if a male is currently not in play and a female is being rotated out, the female may skip the male who would be rotating to the server position and move directly to the server position while the male would sit out until the next rotation.
Coin Toss
A coin toss or a game of ‘Rock, Paper, Scissors’ will be used to determine start of serve and side of court.
The winner of the toss shall choose between serving first OR which side of the court that team wants to start on. The loser gets the option the coin toss winner did not select.
Team to start serving will alternate each game and teams shall switch sides of the court between each game.
Game Clock/Scoring
One point shall be awarded for each service; i.e. ‘rally scoring.’
For the first 2 games, the first team to score 21 points by a margin of 2 or more, or to reach 25 by any margin shall win the game.
For the third game, the first team to score 15 points by a margin of 2 or more, or to reach 19 by any margin shall win the game.
A match is won when a team has won 2 out of 3 games. A third game will be played regardless of if a team is 2-0 in the first 2 games or not. The third game is used as a tie breaker and used for total points in the league standings.
Each match ends after 3 games have finished or 45 minutes of game time from the scheduled start time have been reached.
Each team is permitted one 30 second time-out per game. Unused timeouts do not carry over into subsequent games.
A team can be up to 10 minutes late for the start of a match. However, that late team will be given a loss for the first game of the match and play will start with the second game. Any team late by more than 10 minutes will forfeit the match with a score of 0-3. If both teams are late, play will start with the second game and will still finish at the 45 minute mark from the scheduled game start time.
Service
Serve must be delivered from behind the boundary line.
Served balls that contact the net on the way over are considered live and may be played.
Served balls are dead, and a side-out and point awarded to the opposing team if:
-The ball fails to cross the top of the net.
-The ball lands out of bounds.
-The ball contacts a serving team’s player prior to crossing the net.
Returns
Any part of the body may be used to hit the ball.
Serves may not be attacked or blocked; i.e. they may not be returned when the ball is higher than the top of the net.
The ball must be returned with no more than three hits. Exception, a block does not count as one of the three hits.
A player may not hit the ball twice in a row. Exception, a block by a player permits them to hit the ball again in succession.
A player in the back row may not spike the ball in front of the attack line. This rule is also referenced in the “Rotations” section above.
Side Outs
If a team commits an error or foul, a side out shall be called, 1 point and service awarded to the opposing team.
Errors include:
-Ball lands out of bounds.
-Ball fails to pass over the net on a serve.
-Carrying/throwing the ball, ‘lift’.
-Team contact with the ball more than three times in a return, not counting a block.
-A player contacting the ball more than once in a row or a ‘double-hit’. Again, not counting a block.
Faults include:
-A player making contact with the net during the serve, unless the net is pushed into the player.
-Blocking a serve.
-Crossing the service line while serving the ball.
-Making contact with the net while attempting to play the ball. Exceptions: Incidental contact by a player not actively attempting to play the ball is NOT a fault. Contact with the net as a result of movement of the net is NOT a fault.
-A player on the back row crosses the attack line to spike the ball.
-Illegal rotation or substitution (2 exceptions, see ‘Rotation’).
- A player making contact with the opposing team’s side of the court while making a play on the ball and/or interfering with the team’s play (accidental going under the net is ok as long as it does not interfere with the opposing team’s play and not while making a play on the ball).
-Unsportsmanlike conduct.
Net Play
In blocking, a player may touch the ball beyond the net, if he/she does not interfere with the opponent’s play before or during the latter’s attack-hit.
A player may cross under the net if it does not interfere with play such as stepping on an opponent’s foot or causing an opponent player to move to avoid coming in contact with the player that went under the net, etc.
Accidental contact with the net is permitted as long it does not interfere with game play or not while making a play on the ball.
Tournament
A single elimination tournament will be held at the end of the season the following week after the last regular season game for qualifying teams.
It is a best of 3 game format. No third game unless needed for a tiebreaker. Winner moves to the next round.
For the first 2 games, the first team to score 21 points by a margin of 2 or more, or to reach 25 by any margin shall win the game.
For the third game (if needed), winner will be the team first to 15 points by any margin.
No time limit for the championship game.