How many touches do we get, and what counts as a double contact or a catch?

Three hits (Rule 9.1): a team gets a maximum of three hits to return the ball, not counting a block touch. A fourth hit is the fault of "four hits". A player may not hit the ball twice in a row, except after a block or on the team's first hit (below).

What's legal (Rule 9.2):

• The ball may touch any part of the body.
• It must rebound. It must not be caught or thrown, but it can rebound in any direction.
• It may touch several parts of the body at once.
• First hit exception: on the team's first hit, the ball may touch several parts of the body one after another, provided it is all during one action. This is why a double touch on serve receive or a dig is not a fault.

Simultaneous contacts:

• Two or three team-mates touching at the same moment counts as two or three hits (except when blocking). If several reach for the ball but only one touches it, that is one hit. Colliding is not a fault.
• If two opponents touch it at the same time over the net and the ball stays in play, the team receiving it gets three more hits.

Faults (Rule 9.3): four hits; an assisted hit (using a team-mate or an object for support to reach the ball, although a team-mate may hold you back from committing a fault); a catch (the ball doesn't rebound); and a double contact (one player hits the ball twice in a row, or it touches several body parts in succession, outside the first-hit exception).