Re: serving rules question

[Todd <tdh@vbref.org>]

"Martha L. Clark" <mclark@cs.uah.edu> writes:
> 
> 
> Last week in my volleyball league game (USAV rules), a player on the
> opposing team was serving underhand to us.  My team was complaining that
> he was not releasing the ball before he contacted it, and wanted him to be
> called for a carry.  

Indeed, by USAV rules, the ball must be "clearly tossed and released"
prior to contact.  See USAV indoor rule 17.5.4:

   After clearly being tossed or released, the ball shall be contacted
   with one hand or any part of one arm before it touches the playing
   surface.


>THe ref didn't do anything about it and continued to
> let the guy serve.  I had to ref the next match, with the same guy serving
> underhand.  I personally didn't see anything wrong with the guy's serve,
> ie he wasn't throwing the ball or anything, he just wasn't releasing it
> before he hit it.  

The correct fault is "Illegal Service."  The signal is to "lift the
extended arm (palm up) from the level of the thigh to the level of the
chest."  This differs from the "lift" signal only in its point of
origin.  The lift signal begins from waist level.





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...."