Re: Rule question

[Todd <tdh@vbref.org>]

turnerb@my-dejanews.com writes:
> 
> I tipped the ball (indoor) back over when it was exactly above the
> net, virtually touching the top band. The ref faulted me as the ball
> hadn't crossed the net - was he right?

You have a compelling case assuming you were a front row player, and
if some part of the ball was in the vertical plane of the net. The key
here is whether or not any part of the ball was within the vertical
plane of the net above the net.

If any part of the ball was in the plane of the net (i.e. the ball was
not _completely_ on the oppenent's side of the net), then you were
entitled to play the ball, and the referee incorrectly applied the
rule.



Here's the rule corresponding to what the referee accused you of from
the USAV 1998-99 indoor rules:

18.4 Attack hit faults
18.4.1 A player initiates an attack-hit on the ball __completely__
       within the playing space of the opposing team.

or, if the referee judged your contact to be a block, he'd have
been applying this rule:

19.5 Blocking faults
19.5.1 A blocker touches the ball in the opponent's space before or
       simultaneous with the opponent's attack-hit.

Both of these rules are interpreted to allow contact by an opponent as
soon as some part of the ball enters the vertical plane of the net.


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...."