How is a volleyball match scored?

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Accepted Answer

Under the FIVB Official Volleyball Rules 2025-2028, which apply in South Africa through Volleyball South Africa as FIVB's member federation:

Rally point scoring (Rule 6.1): every rally wins a point. You score by landing the ball on the opponent's court, when the opponent commits a fault, or when the opponent receives a penalty. If the receiving team wins the rally, it scores and serves next.
Sets (Rule 6.2): sets 1 to 4 go to 25 points with a 2-point lead. At 24-24, play continues until one team leads by 2 (26-24, 27-25, and so on).
Match (Rule 6.3): best of five. The first team to win three sets wins. At 2-2, the deciding 5th set is played to 15 points, again with a 2-point lead.
Double fault: if both teams commit faults at the same time, the rally is replayed.
Default (Rule 6.4): a team that refuses to play, or fails to turn up on time without good reason, loses 0-3, with each set 0-25.
Incomplete team: a team that can't keep six players on court loses the set or match. The opponent gets the points and sets needed to win, and the incomplete team keeps what it has already won.

Equipment basics: the net is 2.43 m high for men and 2.24 m for women, measured at the centre of the court. A team may have up to 12 players on the score sheet; in FIVB, World and Official senior competitions, up to 14.