UR Beach Volleyball Rules (Coed 4's and 6's)

General Rules

  1. Reseeding: Teams may be reseeded as a result of competitive balance requirements throughout the season as warranted at Urban Rec’s sole discretion.
     
  2. Rules: Please review the rules before the season with your team to avoid any confusion.  The rules are located below as well as on your Member Dashboard and can be accessed by clicking on Members in the upper-right corner above and then on Dashboard.
     
  3. Fouls: Please call your own fouls. Games are self-refereed.  Participants are responsible for calling their own fouls- please err on the side of good sportsmanship.
     
  4. For additional rules specific to coed 4’s beach volleyball only, please scroll to the bottom
     
  5. Teams will only call fouls committed by their own players. Players will not call the fouls against their opponents. If there is a dispute on a call, re-serve the play. Contact an event coordinator for clarification of rules after match is completed.
     
  6. All players will conduct themselves in a polite and sportsmanlike manner. Individuals who do not abide by these criteria will be removed from the league.
     
  7. All balls must be hit cleanly. No scooping or carrying the ball. Only off of a driven ball may a ball may be double hit (i.e. off arm and head in one continuous motion).
     
  8. Contact with the net (except for hair) in any way constitutes loss of point. A player that goes under the net but does not contact the net or interfere with the play is okay. *Note- if the wind pushes the net into a player, then this will not be considered a foul and play should proceed.
     
  9. A served ball may not be blocked, spiked or volleyed directly back over the net.
     
  10. A served ball may be received by volleying the ball, provided it is not volleyed directly back over the net (i.e. the ball may be volleyed to another member of the receiving team).
     
  11. A block or partial block does not count as one of a team’s 3 hits.
     
  12. The ball may be played by any part of the body.
     
  13. Both teams are responsible for recording matches won/lost and UR Fun points and submitting the score sheets to the on-site Event Coordinator– failure to do so will result in an the team being assigned zero points and zero wins.
     
  14. For coed 4’s:
    -  a full starting lineup consists of 4 players including a minimum of 2 women and 1 man
    -  if a team has less than 4 players, then the following rules apply:
    • if a team has less than 2 players it defaults the match
    • if a team has 2 or 3 players but does NOT have at least 1 woman and 1 man, the match will be forfeited (but not a default)
    • if a team has 2 or 3 players with at least 1 woman and 1 man, the match counts but a point penalty applies:  4 points in each of the first two games of the match and 3 points in the third game of the match.

              For coed 6’s
              – a full starting lineup is 6 players with at least 2 women and 1 man on the court
              – if a team has less than 6 players, the following rules apply:

  • if a team has less than 4 players it defaults the match.
  • if a team has 4 or 5 players but does NOT have at least 1 woman and 1 man, it is a default
  • if a team has 4 or 5 players including only 1 woman and at least 1 man,  a point penalty applies:  4 points in each of the first two games of the match and 3 points in the third game of the match.
  • if a team has 4 or 5 players including at least 2 women and 1 man on the court, then no point penalty is applied

Format

  1. The first week of play may be a seeding week. Teams will play five 20-minute games with no cap on points. Whichever team is winning when time expires (as indicated by a whistle from the on-site staff) will win the game. Teams may be re-seeded from one pool to another based on the results of this night. Teams will again be re-seeded if necessary after the 4th week of play.
     
  2. Regular league play will consist of 3 matches. Best 2 of 3 (21/21/15) Games are all rally point, win by 2 points, cap at 23 (cap at 17 in the 3rd match. Matches will be over when a team wins 2 games or time expires. If time expires (signified by the whistleblowing) while teams are playing in the 3rd game, at least 1 of the teams must have at least 5 points for the game to count. If neither team has at least 5 points, then the game does not count in the match results, and the match is reported as a 1-1 draw.
     
  3. If time expires while teams are playing the 3rd game (the tiebreaker), at least one of the teams must have reached 5 points for the 3rd game to count. Otherwise the match will be reported as a 1-game-apiece draw.
     
  4. Team standings will be based on sets won/lost, not matches (although you will have more sets in the win column if you win more matches, obviously). Tiebreakers in the standings will be points (2 points for each set won), wins, fewer losses, UR fun point average, then head-to-head record.
     
  5. The playoffs will occur over the last week (or 2 if necessary) of the season. Generally, for leagues with 10-team pools, the final match of second-last week will be the first round of the playoffs, with the remaining playoff rounds being on the final week. Each match will be the same as regular season matches (21/21/15 capped at 2 points over the maximum). If time expires during the 3rd set, whichever team is winning at that point will win the match (no 5-point minimum required). If time expires during the 2nd set, then total points scored in the 2 sets to that point will determine the winner of the match.
     
  6. Enjoy yourselves!!

Coed 4’s Additional Rules/Exceptions

  1. There are NO court position restrictions or requirements in 4’s beach volleyball, but service rotation must remain the same throughout a single game. For example, players can stay in the same court position an entire game (at the net/back row etc.), but each player MUST serve in the same service rotation for the entire game.
     
  2. No open-handed tipping: Players who contact the ball with one hand and are putting the ball over the net must cleanly hit with the heel or palm of hand (a roll shot), with straight, locked fingers and a locked wrist (a cobra), knurled fingers (a camel toe), or with the back of the hand (locked wrist and locked fingers/knuckles. One handed placement or redirection of the ball with the fingers (dink or open-handed tip) is a fault.
     
  3. If a player is going to play the ball into the opponent's court by setting or volleying, the player must contact the ball with 2 hands above the shoulders and it must be set directly forward or backward in relation to the player's body (shoulders and hips should be in the same position from prior to the set happening). NO DUMPING! This applies even if it is the team’s 3rd hit.