Rules
General Format
The championship consists of 2 stages.
Stage 1: Round Robin
Each team faces off against all other teams once, leading to a classification of all participating teams. The top 8 teams will qualify for the knockout stage.
Stage 2: Knockout Stage
Teams classified 1 to 8 in the first stage qualify for the knockout stage, which will consist of quarter-finals, semi-finals, the 3rd place match, and the final.
As in a classical tournament, the team ranked 1st will play against the team ranked 8th, 2nd against 7th, etc.
A separate knockout stage may be organised for the teams classified 9 or lower in the first stage.
NB: The BV-DTIC committee may change the format of the tournament to two separate round robins in the first stage if there are a lot of teams participating.
General Match Rules
Matches are played as best of three sets, with each team having 4 players on the court at any given time.
Each set is played to 21 points, including the 3rd set. Sets are won by scoring the required number of points and having a lead of at least 2 points (e.g. if the score reaches 20-20 in the first set, teams keep playing until the score 22-20, or 23-21, or 24-22... is reached).
Mixed gender line-up rule: Four or more players may represent a team for any given match, as long as they are not all of the same gender. All people representing a team in a match should play, by rotating players in and out fairly during the entirety of the match, when the team wins back the serve.
The server remains the same person as long as their team wins points. Service then goes to the opposing team when a point is lost. When a point is won again, the team should perform a rotation, changing server, and performing a substitution if 5 or more players are in the line-up. Service order and substitution order (of all players) should be maintained throughout the set.
The first team to win 2 sets wins the match. After a 2-0 victory, the teams may play a third set, if time allows, but it is optional and the final score is still 2-0.
Organisation of Matches and Responsibility of Captains/2nd Captains
In general, captains (and 2nd captains) are responsible for adequately organising their team's matches and making sure that their teammates follow all the rules of the tournament.
Captains are responsible for informing their teammates of upcoming matches, indicated on the Calendar page of this website.
Captains are responsible for making sure that they have enough available players for any given match (while abiding to the mixed gender line-up rule), and for informing opposing teams and the BV-DTIC organisation committee as soon as possible if a reschedule of the match is necessary. Captains are then responsible for communicating with opposing teams and the organisation committee for such a reschedule.
Captains should communicate with the other captains and their teammates to bring a net and ball to the beach when it is the team's turn, according the Calendar page. Both teams should arrive at the indicated time and set up the net together. Punctuality is a must. Teams that are over 15 minutes late without communicating with the appropriate captain will be penalised MINUS 1 point.
Captains should also organise the return of the net and ball to the university when indicated in the Calendar.
Captains of both opposing teams should communicate the result of each match to the organisation committee.
If a team cannot reschedule a match within the timeframe of the tournament while complying with the aforementioned rules and having enough players, they should contact the other team and the organisation committee as soon as possible. If no solution can be found, as an extreme case, the incomplete team should contact the other team in advance and discuss the possibility to play with a player that doesn't belong to the team (but is registered to the tournament) or with fewer players on the field. This rule should only be applied as a last resort and with prior approval from the organisation committee.
Round Robin Scoring System
Classification
Teams are awarded points according to the scores in sets of each of their matches. If the score is 2-0, 3 points are awarded to the winning team and 0 for the losing one. If the score is 2-1, it is 2 points for the winner, 1 for the loser. Any additional set played after a team has reached 2 sets does NOT count.
Teams are deducted points as penalisation when applicable, as described below.
The classification of teams is done according to total number of points. Ties are resolved by comparing the ratio of sets won (Won : Lost) and then by looking at the result of the match between both teams.
The Classification is regularly updated on this page, and any mistake should be reported to the organisation committee.
Penalties
Outside of exceptional circumstances, to postpone a match, 48h advance notice to the other team and the BV-DTIC committee is required. Last-minute notice will be penalized with MINUS 1 point (Exceptions: RAIN and EXTREME WIND).
Absence without previous announcement: MINUS 2 points for the absent team + the match will be considered lost 2-0 unless the opposing team agrees on rescheduling (we rely on fair play).
Games played without proper approval from BV-DTIC committee count as not played and score 0 points.
Violating the mixed gender line-up rule: MINUS 2 points.
The teams in charge of the net will be penalized 1 point for losing any piece from the net kit.
Teams that have non-registered players will be penalized. If these players are externals, the team will be EXPELLED from the tournament. No excuse will be accepted.
Gameplay
These rules have been adapted from the 4x4 BVPRBB Beach Volleyball Championship organised by the PRBB.
Please bear in mind that these rules should be applied with common sense. Remember we are not professional players and the most important thing is to enjoy the game.
Start of a match
Before starting the match, captains agree on which team starts serving and which side each team starts playing on. This may be done with a free ball that has at least 4 touches.
Captains also agree on the system of switching sides during the match. This could be swapping every 7 points within each set, or swapping between the first and second set and then every 7 points during the third set if it should be played.
Positions
A rotation is required when winning back the serve (beach volley rules). Service order must be maintained throughout the entire set. When the receiving team has gained the right to serve, all players should rotate one position, including a substitution if more than 4 players are part of the lineup. The substitution order must also be maintained throughout the set.
The players are free to position themselves. There are NO determined positions on the court.
Serve
The game starts when the ball is hit for the service.
In a service the ball should be hit with one hand or arm.
The service should be realized from outside the playing field, at the back, and without stepping on the field line. The server may move freely within the service zone. After serving, the server may step or fall inside the field.
The game starts once the ball is thrown in the air, therefore it is considered fault (and the point is assigned to the opponent team) if the server throws the ball and catches it again.
Service order should be maintained throughout the set.
The players of the serving team must not prevent their opponent, through individual or collective screening, from seeing the server and the flight path of the ball.
No player is permitted to complete an attack hit on the OPPONENT’S service, when the ball is in the front zone and entirely higher than the top of the net.
To block an opponent's service is forbidden and considered a fault. This means that a player's arms cannot be placed by the net to return the ball directly without it entering entirely that side of the field.
In summary, on the serve, the ball can always be returned using two or three legal hits. However, the ball must fall below the height of the net for it to be returned in one hit to the other side of the field.
Hitting the ball
The ball can hit any part of the body.
The ball cannot be retained and/or thrown, it must be hit, otherwise it is considered a fault.
It is considered fault when a player hits the ball two consecutive times, including when the ball touches the net in between the two touches. A player may however perform a block and then be the next player to hit the ball if it falls to their side of the net.
A team can touch the ball for a maximum of 3 times (the block is excluded from this count – see below). It is considered fault to touch the ball more than 3 times and the point will be assigned to the opponent team.
When the ball hits the ground it is considered inside if it hits the field, including the lines. The game should be stopped and the serve repeated in the case of external interference.
Game at the net
The ball can touch the net while crossing fields. A ball sent to the net can be still saved within the 3 touches permitted to a team.
It is not allowed to touch or hold the net with any part of the body.
It is not considered fault when the ball is thrown to the net and the latter touches an opponent as a consequence.
It is permitted to partly enter the opposite field from below the net during your play whenever this does not interfere with the opponents' game (be VERY careful when doing so because it is very easy to get injured!).
Block
During a block, the blocker can touch the ball in the opponent's space whenever this does not interfere with the opponents' game before or during the attack hit. Therefore it is not permitted to touch the ball in the opponent's space before the opponent has completed his attack.
Blocking the setter is considered fault. That is to say, touching the ball while it in the opponent's space is not allowed if they have a touch left or they are not attacking.
The block is not considered as one of the 3 permitted touches so after a block the team can still hit the ball a maximum of 3 times (so, the blocker can touch the ball again after the block if the ball falls to their side of the net).
It is forbidden to block the opponent's service.