GUIDES · BETSLIP DOCTOR
Why can an indoor volleyball touch the net while a player’s net contact may be a fault?
A ball may touch the net while crossing it. A serve is a fault if, after the ball is correctly hit, it fails to cross the net plane completely through the crossing space. A player’s contact with the net is a separate test: contact between the antennae during the action of playing the ball is a fault, and that action includes take-off, the hit or attempted hit, and landing. Contact with the post, ropes or net outside the antennae is allowed only when it does not interfere with play, subject to the rule’s stated exception.
For Indoor volleyball readers checking whether a net-touching serve remains in play · Updated
A net touch by the ball does not itself stop a serve
Rule 10.2 permits the ball to touch the net while crossing. For a serve, Rule 12.6.2.1 identifies a service fault when the correctly hit ball touches a serving-team player or fails to cross the net plane completely through the crossing space. The key question is whether the ball crosses through that space, not simply whether it brushed the net.
A player is judged by location and action
Under Rule 11.3.1, a player touching the net between the antennae during the action of playing the ball commits a fault. The action includes take-off, the hit or attempted hit, and landing. The rule also treats a player close to the ball and trying to play it as being in that action even if the player does not make contact with the ball.
Rule 11.3.2 allows contact with the post, ropes or another object outside the antennae, including the net, if that contact does not interfere with play, subject to Rule 9.1.3. Interference can include using the net between the antennae for support, hindering an opponent’s attempt to play the ball, or creating an unfair advantage.
Two fictional serves and two player actions
A fictional serve clips the net, passes completely through the crossing space and enters the opponent’s court; the net touch alone does not make it a fault. In another fictional serve, the ball touches the net but fails to cross the net plane completely through that space; that is a service fault. Separately, a player touching the net between the antennae while landing from an attempted block commits a fault. A player who touches a post outside an antenna without interfering with play is within the rule’s outside-contact allowance. These examples illustrate the rule text and do not decide a real play.
Related questions
Is every serve that touches the net a fault?
No. A ball may touch the net while crossing. The service fault described in Rule 12.6.2.1 occurs when a correctly hit serve fails to cross the net plane completely through the crossing space.
Is every player contact with the net a fault?
No. The rule identifies contact between the antennae during the action of playing the ball as a fault. Contact outside the antennae can be allowed when it does not interfere with play, subject to Rule 9.1.3.