Activities Sports & Athletics Volleyball Rules: Comparing FIVB, NCAA and AVP Volleyball Rules Share PINTEREST Email Print Stanislaw Pytel/Getty Images Sports & Athletics Volleyball Playing & Coaching Baseball Bicycling Billiards Bodybuilding Bowling Boxing Car Racing Cheerleading Extreme Sports Football Golf Gymnastics Ice Hockey Martial Arts Professional Wrestling Skateboarding Skating Paintball Soccer Swimming & Diving Table Tennis Tennis Track & Field Other Activities Learn More By Beverly Oden Beverly Oden Beverly Oden is a former member of the USA Volleyball team who competed in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Learn about our Editorial Process Updated on 03/04/19 Number of Players Olympic Indoor, NCAA Men, and WomenSix playersAVP, Olympic BeachTwo players Scoring AVP, Olympic Indoor, and Beach, NCAA Men, and Women Rally scoring Must win by two No point cap Olympic Indoor and NCAA Men and Women Best of five sets First four sets played to 25 points Fifth set played to 15 points Teams switch sides at game's end in sets 1-4 and when leading team reaches eight points in set five. AVP and Olympic Beach Best of three sets First two sets played to 21 points Third set played to 15 points Teams switch sides when sum of points scored equals seven in sets one and two, and when sum of points scored equals five in set three. Court Size Olympic Indoor and NCAA Men and Women18 meters x 9 meters (59' x 29'6")AVP and Olympic Beach16 meters x 8 meters (52'6" x 26'3") Net Rules AVP, Olympic Indoor and Beach, NCAA Men and Women Men's Net Height - 2.43 meters or 8’ Women's Net Height - 2.24 meters or 7’4” Contact with net permitted as long as it does not interfere with play. Olympic Indoor, NCAA Men and Women Any part of body above feet can go under the net as long as it does not interfere with play. Feet can go under the net if they don’t interfere with play and part of foot is on or above center line. AVP, Olympic Beach Players can fully enter opponent’s court as long as does not interfere with play. Ball Handling AVP, Olympic Beach and Indoor, NCAA Men and Women Players can contact the ball with any part of the body Olympic Indoor Double contact permitted on first contact AVP and Olympic Beach Hard driven ball may be held momentarily. No open-handed tips or dinks. Time Outs and Substitutions Olympic Indoor Each team gets two time outs (30 seconds each) per set Each team gets six subs (libero position has unlimited subs.) A player may enter and exit the game only once each. In sets 1-4, two additional 60 second technical time outs are automatically taken when the leading team reaches eight and 16 points. AVP and Olympic Beach Each team gets one 30-second time out per set Each team gets one injury time out per player per match. No substitutions. In FIVB world events there is one 30-second technical time out in sets one and two when the sum of points reaches 21. NCAA Men and Women Each team gets two 60-second timeouts per set One media timeout (75-90 secs.) per set can be taken at the discretion of host school when lead team reaches 15 points in sets 1-4 (or 8 points in set five) unless a team time out has been called prior to that point. Each team gets 12 subs per set. The same player can enter and exit the game an unlimited amount of times within the twelve-sub limit. Playing Actions Olympic Indoor Block does not count as a hit. Cannot attack a libero set. AVP and Olympic Beach Block counts as a hit. NCAA Men and Women Block does not count as a hit. Libero may serve in one position in rotation. Players may attack a libero set if made from behind three-meter line.