Re: Rule question on attacking the serve

[Todd <tdh@vbref.org>]

Paul Bradford <bradford@ultranet.com> writes:

> 
> What I'm asking is this: does a receiving team have to allow
> some part of the served ball to fall below the top of the net?

No, unless the ball is attacked directly off the serve (a single team
contact).  

> USAV rules.  The rule says you can't attack the serve until
> some part of the ball drops below the top of the net.
> 
> What I'm wonder about is indirect attacks where multiple players
> on the receiving team touch the ball, but the ball always
> remains above the plane of the net.  It seems like this probably
> happens with tall players taking the ball over their heads
> with their hands.
> 
> Example 1: a ball is served, player takes ball with hands (ball
> is above the net), setter jump sets (still above the net),
> hitter attacks.  The ball never got below the plane of the net.
> Or an even simpler case: on the first contact, the receiving
> teams' setter jump sets the serve directly to a hitter.
> Is this legal?

Yes.  The serve is received legally by the setter.  Since the setter
did not attack the ball, there is no violation of the rule you cite
[R18.4.4]. The attacker's legal hit is the team's second contact.  As
such, R18.4.4 does not apply.  



> 
> Example 2: If Example 1 is legal, Here is a tougher case:
> player goes up to attack serve, but one of his teammates touches
> the ball before it goes over to the other side.  The effect is
> the same as directly attacking the serve, but there were multiple
> contacts, so it is like the first example.

I'm not sure I understand your scenario enough to answer, but I
strongly suspect that it's legal too.  R18.4.4 applies only to the
first contact of the receiving team.


Best Regards,
--
                  Todd H.   tdh@vbref.org
USAV Regional Referee, Great Lakes Region, Palatine, IL
Todd's Volleyball Referee Page http://www.io.com/~tdh/vball/
"So you're a Ref and an engineer? Oh that explains it...."