Volleyball is a team sport of two teams each consisting of six players, separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. Volleyball has been a part of the official program of the Summer Olympic Games since 1964.
The complete rules are basically extensive.
But simply, play proceeds as follows: a player on one of the teams begins a 'rally' or a game by serving the ball (tossing or releasing it and then hitting it with a hand or arm), from behind the back boundary line of the court, over the net, and into the receiving team's court. The receiving team should not or must not let the ball be grounded within their court. The team may touch the ball up to 3 times but individual players may not touch the ball twice consecutively. Typically, the first two touches are used to set up for an attack, an attempt to direct the ball back over the net in such a way that the serving team is unable to prevent it from being grounded in their court.
The rally or game continues, with each team allowed as many as three repeated touches, until either (1): a team makes a kill, by grounding the ball on the opponent's court and winning the rally; or (2): a team commits a fault or mistake and loses the rally. The team that wins the rally is awarded a point, and is allowed to serves the ball to start the next rally.
A few of the most common faults or mistakes include:
causing the ball to touch the ground outside the opponents' court or without first passing over the net;
catching and throwing the ball;
double hit: two repeated contacts with the ball made by the same player;
four following contacts with the ball made by the same team;
net foul: when a player touches the net during play;
foot fault: the foot crosses over the border line when serving.
The ball is usually played with the hands or arms, but players can legally strike or push (short contact) the ball with any part of the body.
A number of...