GUIDES · BETSLIP DOCTOR
Does an indoor volleyball block count as one of the team’s three hits?
No. Under the FIVB 2025–2028 indoor rules, a block contact is not counted as a team hit. After a block contact, the team is entitled to up to three hits to return the ball, and any player, including the blocker, may make the first hit after the block.
For Indoor volleyball readers counting contacts after a block · Updated
The block does not use one of the three team hits
Rule 9.1 says a team may touch the ball up to three times to return it, in addition to blocking. Rule 14.4.1 makes the counting point explicit: a block contact is not counted as a team hit, so the team has three hits available after the block.
Under Rule 14.1.1, blocking is an action by players close to the net who reach higher than the top of the net to intercept a ball coming from the opponent, regardless of the ball’s contact height. Only a front-row player may complete a block, and at contact some part of that player’s body must be above the top of the net. An ordinary low defensive touch is not automatically a block. The special count applies to a qualifying block contact, not to every touch that follows it.
The blocker may make the first hit after the block
The first post-block hit may be made by any player, including the person who touched the ball during the block. If that player contacts the ball again after the block, the new contact is the team’s first hit; it is not treated as another block contact.
A fictional block and three post-block hits
A fictional Team A front-row blocker reaches above the net, with part of the body above its top at contact, and touches the opponent’s attack during the block. That block contact does not count as a team hit. A teammate controls the rebound for Team A’s first hit, the blocker makes Team A’s second hit, and another teammate makes the third hit to return the ball. Team A has used all three available post-block hits; the blocker’s post-block touch counts as one of them.
Related questions
Can the same blocker touch the ball again after the block?
Yes. Rule 14.4.2 says any player, including the player who touched the ball during the block, may make the first hit after the block. That later contact counts as one of the team’s three hits.
Does this guide describe beach volleyball’s contact count?
No. It explains the cited FIVB indoor rules. Check the governing rules for another format or competition.