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Rally Scoring, Sets to 25, Tiebreaks to 15 & the Complete Point System Explained
Last updated: March 1, 2026
Volleyball uses rally scoring — every rally earns a point for one team, regardless of who served. Sets are played to 25 points (the fifth tiebreak set to 15), and a team must win by at least 2 points with no cap. A match is best of 5 sets — the first team to win 3 sets takes the match.
Since 1999, volleyball has used rally scoring (also called rally point system). Under this system, every rally results in a point — regardless of which team served. Before 1999, volleyball used side-out scoring, where only the serving team could score. If the receiving team won the rally, they simply gained the serve (a "side-out") without earning a point. Side-out scoring made matches unpredictable in length and often led to very long games.
The FIVB (Fédération Internationale de Volleyball) introduced rally scoring to make matches faster, more spectator-friendly, and more predictable in duration. Under rally scoring:
A rally can end in several ways: the ball hits the floor inside the opponent's court, the ball goes out of bounds (the last team to touch it loses the rally), a team commits a fault (net touch, four hits, double contact, foot fault, etc.), or the ball hits the antenna or crosses the net entirely outside the antenna.
Rally scoring applies universally across all levels of volleyball — FIVB international competitions, Olympic Games, NCAA, high school, and recreational leagues.
A volleyball match is played as a best of 5 sets. The first team to win 3 sets wins the match.
Sets 1 through 4: Each set is played to 25 points with a minimum 2-point advantage. There is no point cap — if the score reaches 24-24, play continues until one team leads by 2 (e.g., 26-24, 27-25, 32-30, etc.).
Set 5 (Tiebreak): If the match reaches 2 sets apiece, a deciding fifth set is played to 15 points, again with a minimum 2-point advantage and no cap. At 14-14, play continues until one team leads by 2.
In the tiebreak set, teams switch sides when one team reaches 8 points. This ensures neither team benefits disproportionately from court conditions (lighting, air currents, sun in outdoor venues).
Match outcomes: Matches can finish 3-0, 3-1, or 3-2 in sets. A 3-0 sweep takes a minimum of 75 points played (25+25+25 if every set is won 25-0, which never happens in practice). Real matches typically involve 150-250 total points across all sets.
Team timeouts: Each team is allowed 2 timeouts per set, each lasting 30 seconds. In FIVB World and Olympic competitions, there are also technical timeouts at 8 and 16 points in sets 1-4 (but not in the tiebreak set).
The serve initiates every rally. Understanding serving rules is fundamental to volleyball scoring because gaining the serve triggers a rotation.
Basic serve rules:
When does a team rotate?
Serve zones: Under current rules, the server may serve from anywhere behind the end line, from sideline to sideline. There is no restriction to serving from behind zone 1 only — the server can move along the full width of the baseline.
Jump serves: Advanced players often use a jump serve (topspin or float), which involves tossing the ball, approaching, and striking it while airborne. The server may land inside the court after contact — what matters is that the last foot contact before the toss was behind the end line.
Volleyball has 6 positions on the court, arranged in two rows of three:
| Front Row | ||
|---|---|---|
| Zone 4 (Front-Left) | Zone 3 (Front-Center) | Zone 2 (Front-Right) |
| Back Row | ||
|---|---|---|
| Zone 5 (Back-Left) | Zone 6 (Back-Center) | Zone 1 (Back-Right / Server) |
Rotation order: Players rotate clockwise through all 6 positions: 1 → 6 → 5 → 4 → 3 → 2 → 1. Each team submits a lineup sheet before the match specifying the starting rotation order. This order cannot change during the set.
Positional fault (overlap): At the moment of the serve, each player must be in their correct rotational position relative to adjacent teammates. Specifically:
If a team is caught in a positional fault, the opponent is awarded a point and the serve. All points scored since the fault occurred (if detectable) are cancelled.
Front row vs. back row restrictions: After the serve, players may move freely. However, back-row players (in zones 1, 5, 6) are restricted from:
These restrictions are crucial to the game's structure and create the tactical distinction between front-row attackers and back-row defenders.
The libero is a specialized back-row defensive player, introduced by the FIVB in 1998 to improve rally quality and defensive play. The libero is easily identified by wearing a contrasting jersey color from the rest of the team.
Key libero rules:
Substitution rules:
Teams may designate up to 2 liberos on the roster in FIVB competitions, but only one is on the court at a time. The second libero can replace the first between sets or if the first libero is injured.
Beach volleyball follows the same rally-scoring principle but differs from indoor volleyball in several important ways:
Team size: Beach volleyball is played 2 vs. 2 (compared to 6 vs. 6 indoors). There are no substitutions and no libero.
Set scoring:
Court size: Beach volleyball courts are smaller — 16m × 8m compared to 18m × 9m for indoor.
Side switching: Teams switch sides every 7 points in sets 1 and 2, and every 5 points in the tiebreak set. This frequent switching is essential because outdoor conditions (sun, wind) significantly affect play.
No open-hand tips: In beach volleyball, players cannot use an open-hand dink (tip) — the ball must be contacted cleanly with the fingers in a set motion or struck/poked with a closed fist or stiff fingers. This rule was designed to keep the game honest on sand where defensive movement is harder.
Stricter double-contact rules: Beach volleyball referees are generally stricter on double contacts during setting — any visible spin on a set may be called as a fault.
No rotation faults: With only 2 players, there are no rotation or positional fault rules — both players can play anywhere on the court. The serving order simply alternates between the two players.
"The serving team is the only team that can score." This was true under the old side-out scoring system (pre-1999) but has not been the case for over 25 years. Under rally scoring, every rally awards a point to the winning team, regardless of who served.
"Sets are capped at a certain score." There is no cap on set scores. Sets continue until one team has 25+ points (or 15+ in the tiebreak) AND leads by at least 2. Scores of 30-28 or even higher are possible and do occur in competitive play.
"The libero can't touch the ball." The libero is one of the most active players on the court — they specialize in receiving serves and digging attacks. What they cannot do is serve (in FIVB play), block, attack above net height, or overhand set from inside the front zone to a teammate who attacks above net height.
"You switch sides every set." Teams switch sides after every set in indoor volleyball, which is correct. But the common confusion is with the tiebreak set, where teams also switch at 8 points within the set.
"A let serve (net serve) is a fault." The let serve has been legal since 2001. If the ball touches the net on the serve but lands in the opponent's court, it is a valid serve and play continues.
"Beach and indoor volleyball have the same scoring." Beach volleyball plays to 21 points (not 25) in the first two sets, uses best of 3 (not best of 5), and has a different side-switching frequency.