Y O U MA K E T H E C A L L
Hey, ref! What’s up with that call?
USA Volleyball’s indoor offi cials consultant offers a quick tutorial on often-misunderstood net calls
by Kathy Ferraraccio
ILLEGAL ATTACK - 1
ow many times have you seen the ball near the net, heard the referee’s whistle and then wondered what hap- pened and what that signal meant? Let’s take a quick look at what might happen when the ball is near the net. First, a couple of points to remember about play at the net: 1. A player may only play a ball that’s on their side of the net. So, when the ball is in the plane of the net, either team has the right to play it. 2. When the ball is higher than the top of the net, a back-row player in front of the at- tack line may not send it into the opponent’s court. If that occurs, the referee signals an illegal attack. 3. When a back-row player is at the net and reaches higher than the top of the net, that player cannot block a ball coming from the opponent’s court. If that occurs, the referee signals an illegal block. That’s a lot to keep straight for anyone! But referees look right down the net, so they have the best seat in the house to see the exact loca- tion of the ball and the actions of the players. Here’s how it may play out on the court: A team receives serve and passes the ball toward the net. The back-row setter for the receiving team jumps very near the net, sets the ball toward a teammate and the opposing blocker reaches over the net and contacts the set with the ball COMPLETELY on the side of the receiving team. In this situation, the referee will call a reaching-over-the-net fault on the blocker.
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In a very similar situation, one that the referee is in an ideal position to judge, the set ball drifts into the vertical plane of the net. When that happens, the blocker has a full right
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to block the ball, and when she does block it, the referee will call an illegal attack on the setter’s team (as described in photo #2 at right). The intention of the setter does not mat- ter, just the location of the ball. If even a sliver of the ball is over the vertical plane of the net, the blocker may legally contact it. The trickiest situation is when that same pass goes close to the net and is simultane- ously blocked by the blocker and set by the setter. The referee should whistle and signal an illegal block on the setter. How can that be? The setter was only trying to set the ball. Why is the opponent allowed to contact the set ball? Here’s why: Once the ball enters the plane above the net, either team has a right to play the ball. That simultaneous con- tact is ruled an illegal block on the back-row setter. It’s the same fault that would be called if a ball is passed over the net and the blocking team hits it into the back-row setter as she tries to get to the ball and set it to a teammate. Of course, if the setter is a front-row player, then play would continue as there are no restrictions on contact above the height of the net by front-row players.
Referees must be on their toes and keep a sharp eye when there is a close, bang-bang play at the net. It happens in a fraction of a second. Front row, back row, location of the ball, and which team hit the ball when all goes into that split-second decision.
Kathy Ferraraccio has many years of experi-
ence as a ref at the highest levels of the game. She has whistled USA Volleyball’s men’s open championship fi nal, numerous matches in the Big Ten, Big 12 and several other conferences. She worked the lines at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
REACHING OVER THE NET PHOTOS: STEVEN WEBSTER
ILLEGAL ATTACK - 2
ILLEGAL BLOCK
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