Officials' Guide to NFHS High School Volleyball Grades 9-12 2026-27

Each state association adopts the NFHS rules and may modify them. Options the NFHS rules name for the state include:

• Textured ball: from 2026-27, a state may adopt a textured (non-smooth) volleyball. Textured balls have no restrictions on color combinations or panel number and shape; all size and weight requirements still apply. Otherwise the ball must be smooth with equal rectangular panels, solid white or up to three colors with one-third of the panels white, and carry the NFHS Authenticating Mark.
• Match length: a state may allow best 2 of 3 sets (all to 25).
• Changing courts between sets may be modified.
• Forfeit as a sanction may be modified.
• Prematch warm-up protocol is state association policy.
• Helmets need state association authorization.
• An illegal-uniform situation at the start of a match is reported to the state association.

Reporting disqualifications, any suspensions that follow, and officials' registration are also set by your state, not the NFHS rules book.

Format

• Matches are best 3 out of 5 sets, rally scoring.
• Sets 1-4 go to 25, and a deciding fifth set goes to 15. A set must be won by 2 points.
• A state association may allow best 2 out of 3. If so, all sets are played to 25.

Coin tosses

• The home team chooses its playing area/bench for the first set when it enters the facility.
• The prematch coin toss (head coach and captains attend) is for serve/receive only.
• The deciding-set coin toss is held at the officials' table by the second referee, called by the home team's playing captain, and is for serve/receive or playing area.

Changing courts

• Teams change courts between sets (a state association may modify this).
• Teams don't change courts during the deciding set.

Intermission
An optional intermission is allowed only for promotional or special-recognition activities, between sets 2 and 3, up to 5 minutes (between sets 1 and 2 in a best-of-3 match). The second referee's second warning between sets now comes at 2:30 (4:30 if an intermission is used).

Rosters

• All teammates must be listed. The roster is due at the prematch conference. Submitting it later is an unnecessary delay (administrative yellow card).
• Roster changes may be made until 10 minutes remain on the pregame clock. After that, a roster violation or added player results in a loss of rally/point to the opponent.

Lineups

• Late lineup: not in at those times = unnecessary delay, yellow card warning. Still not in by the end of the warm-up or interval = unnecessary delay, red card penalty.
• A lineup submitted early may be changed up to the 2-minute mark before the first set, and up to the 1-minute mark before later sets. After that, changes must be made by substitution.
• Duplicate numbers in the starting lineup: the team must use a substitution to change one of them.
• Libero number listed as a starter: change the libero to a different legal number, or use a substitution to put a different legal number in that position.
• Mark the libero's number on the lineup sheet for each set if one is used.

Designation (Rule 6-4-2, new for 2026-27)

• Before each set, a team may designate zero, one or two liberos on the lineup sheet.
• Only one libero may be on the court at a time.
• If no libero is designated on the lineup sheet for a set, the team can't use one that set (it may designate one for later sets). If the lineup lists a libero number no team member is wearing, the team may correct the lineup.

Serving
The libero may serve in one position per set. With two liberos, either may serve, but both are tied to that same serving position. A second libero entering to serve in a different position is an illegal replacement.

Replacements

• There must be a completed rally between two libero replacements, unless the libero's next action is to serve.
• An incorrect replacement can be corrected by the team before the next service contact. If officials have to correct it: unnecessary delay. If discovered after service contact: illegal alignment.

Injured or disqualified libero (Rules 10-4-3a and d)

• Injured: replaced by the player the libero replaced or by the second libero, or a new libero may be designated. A redesignated injured libero may not play the rest of that set.
• Disqualified: with two liberos designated, the team continues with one. With one designated, it continues with none.

Uniform
The libero's top must clearly contrast with the predominant colors of teammates' tops. From 2026-27, the libero's bottoms may be any color. A libero may have two uniform numbers, one as libero and one as a non-libero.

Scorer (2026-27 interpretation)

• List both liberos' numbers at the top of the scoresheet. Circle each libero's number the first time that libero enters the set. No other notation is needed for later entries.
• Notify the second referee during the first dead ball when there is an improper server.

Libero tracker

• Tracks only libero replacements (libero for player and player for libero). Mark "L" next to the player the libero replaced; when that player comes back, write the player's number next to the "L" (for example 2 L 2).
• When one libero exchanges with the other, nothing is recorded.
• At the start of each timeout, report each team's libero status to the second referee. No formal signals are used.

Wrong server or illegal substitute

• If discovered before the opponent serves, the points known to have been scored during that term of service are cancelled.
• Once service has passed to the opponent and the first serve is contacted, no points are cancelled.

Ask the scorer and tracker to tell the second referee right away about anything that looks wrong, rather than waiting until the end of the set.

• Each team gets two timeouts per set. A request for a third timeout is an unnecessary delay, whether or not the second referee acknowledged it.
• Timeouts last 60 seconds. The warning whistle is blown 15 seconds before the end.
• A timeout can end early if both teams are ready: blow the warning whistle, then the horn ends the timeout.
• The head coach may request a timeout verbally or with the hand signal. The playing captain may also request a timeout (or a lineup check) from the second referee.
• Teams confer with coaches on the court or at their bench area, and the coach may enter the court. Balls may not be used during a timeout.
• If cleaning up water or another substance delays the restart, it is an unnecessary delay.
• At the start of each timeout, the libero tracker reports each team's libero status to the second referee.
• If a replay is called, no requests are recognized until the rally is completed, except when the replay is for an injured or ill player who can't continue.

• 18 team substitutions per set.
• The head coach requests substitutions, verbally or with the hand signal. A substitute entering the substitution zone also counts as a request.
• Only one substitution request per team per dead ball, even if a timeout is also granted.
• An illegal substitution request is an unnecessary delay.
• The scorer tells the second referee when a team uses its 15th through 18th substitutions, and the second referee informs the coach.
• An exceptional substitution (for an injured, ill or disqualified player when no legal substitute is available) counts as a team substitution if fewer than 18 have been used. The player replaced may not return in that set.
• If a starting player is injured or ill before a set after the lineup is in, that player is replaced in the lineup without penalty and no entry is charged.

Libero replacements are not substitutions and don't count toward the 18.

Service

• The server has 5 seconds after the first referee's whistle to contact the ball.
• The ball doesn't have to be tossed or released before contact.
• After releasing the ball for service, the server may catch it or let it drop to the floor for a re-serve. Only one re-serve per player per term of service.

Screening (Rule 6-5-1, new for 2026-27)

• Players on the serving team may not raise their hands above their heads during service until the ball has passed beyond the net.
• Serving-team players also may not take any action to prevent receivers from seeing the server's contact or the path of the ball.

Attacking the serve
A player may not attack a served ball that is entirely above the top of the net, from in front of or behind the attack line.

Libero serving
The libero may serve in one position in a set. With two liberos designated, either may serve, but only in that same position.

Net contact

• Contact with the net, net cables or antennas is always a fault, except:
  • contact by loose hair, or
  • when the force of a ball hit by the opponent pushes the net or cables into a player.
• Dangerous contact with, or gaining an advantage from, the standards or referee platform is also a net fault.

Center line

• A player may touch the opponent's court with the feet or hands, as long as some part of that foot or hand is on or above the center line.
• Touching the floor across the center line with any other part of the body is illegal.

Ball crossing under the net

• The ball is out of play as soon as it completely crosses the center line below the net.
• A player may cross the center line outside the court to play a ball that hasn't completely crossed the net or net plane.
• A ball penetrating the vertical plane of the net may be played back by the team on whose side it started, as long as it hasn't completely crossed the plane when contacted.

Blocking: blocking a ball that is entirely on the opponent's side is allowed only after the opponent has had the opportunity to complete its attack.

• There is no expulsion sanction in NFHS. Conduct that needs more than a penalty is a disqualification.
• Duration: unsporting conduct sanctions carry through the whole match. Administrative unnecessary-delay sanctions apply for the set.
• Who carries cards: both referees. The second referee signals the need for a sanction to the first referee using the cards, and verifies the scorer records it.
• Procedure: the first referee holds the card head-high on the offending team's side and says the player's number or which coach. The second referee steps toward that team, holds the card at mid-chest and repeats the number.
• Disqualified: a disqualified teammate leaves the team bench for the rest of the match if supervision is available. A disqualified adult leaves the premises.
• If any team member on the bench gets a red card for unsporting conduct, all coaches must stay seated for the rest of the match.
• Forfeit is the final step (a state association may modify this).

Injury during a rally
Stop play and replay the rally. If the player can't continue within 30 seconds, the team must replace them with a legal substitute or a legal libero replacement, or take a legal timeout if the player is to stay in.

Special injury timeout
If the player can't continue, the team has no timeouts left and no legal or exceptional substitute, the first referee may grant a special injury timeout of up to 3 minutes. If the player can't return by the end of it, the team plays short for the rest of the set.

Playing short
A team must have 6 players to start a match, but may continue with fewer than 6 because of injury, illness or disqualification.

Exceptional substitution
Counts as a team substitution if fewer than 18 have been used. The player replaced may not return in that set.

Injured libero
Replace the libero with the player the libero replaced or the second libero, or designate a new libero. A redesignated injured libero may not play the rest of that set.

Blood
Treat the player as injured. Any blood on the uniform means it must be cleaned or changed. A necessary uniform-number change carries no penalty.

Uniforms

• All players except the libero wear like-colored uniforms. Players may wear different styles of bottoms (shorts, spandex, pants, skirts), and differing sleeve lengths are allowed.
• Visible undergarments must be unadorned, a single solid color similar to the predominant color of the top or bottom, or solid black, white or gray, and all teammates must wear the same color.
• Uniforms must be free of hard, unyielding items (buttons, zippers, snaps).
• If a team can't start the match with six players in legal uniforms, award a loss of rally/point to the opponent at the start of the match, and the state association is notified.

Jewelry

• Small secured post or stud piercings are allowed. No jewelry below the chin. String and commemorative bracelets and body jewelry count as jewelry.
• Non-compliant jewelry may not be worn in warm-ups (penalized only if the player refuses to remove it, as unsporting conduct). Discovered during the match: unnecessary delay.
• Body paint and glitter are prohibited.

Equipment

• No splints, braces or casts on the finger, hand, wrist or forearm. Casts elsewhere may need padding.
• Securely fastened hair devices are allowed. Headbands must be soft and no more than 3 inches wide.
• Religious head coverings don't need state approval; helmets need state association authorization.
• No player may wear an audio or video device during the match.

NFHS volleyball has no instant replay or challenge system. The protest procedure is:

1. The head coach requests a review of the decision by requesting a timeout.
2. The request must be made during the dead ball immediately following the situation in question.
3. The head coach confers with the first referee at the referee's platform.
4. If the referee's decision stands, a timeout is charged to the team. If the team has no timeouts left, the opponent is awarded a loss of rally/point.

Electronic devices may not be used to review a referee's decision.