Re: A Net to Infinity?

[Todd <tdh@vbref.org>]

GL <crewt@sover.net> writes: 
> This rules question came up at our
> outdoor volleyball league the other night: First hit of Team A goes
> out of bounds, but "across the net" (if it were to keep going). A
> Team A player bumps it back in bounds (not back over the net, but
> still out of bounds to his teammates), where Team A completes the
> third hit over the net.  Question: Does the net continue to
> "infinity", even out of bounds (once the ball crosses the plane of
> the net it's dead, even out of bounds), or can a player retrieve it
> and hit it back to his side?


Under USAV outdoor rules, the situation you describe is legal.  A ball
that is hit outside the antennas/posts beyond the plane of the net can
be legally recovered:


  1996-97 USAV outdoor rules:
  
  14.1.2 A ball completely crossing the net below the net or entirely
  outside the antennas (posts) may be recovered within the limits of the
  three team contacts [Rule 15.1.3 and 15.1.4].
  
  14.1.3 A ball completely crossing the net above the net and within or
  over the antennas (posts) may not be recovered.



Indoors, however, it's a different story.  Once the ball completely
crosses the plane of the net, it cannot be recovered.  See USAV indoor
rule 15.1.2 for more info.


Thanks for bringing this situation to the table.  I will add this to
my indoor/outdoor rules differences page at:

        http://www.io.com/~tdh/vball/ref/




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...."