A typical volleyball game, played on a best-of-three set, usually takes 60 to 90 minutes, although there is no time limit for a volleyball game.
Volleyball games, or sets, are typically won by the first team to score 25 points, so this means that a set lasts for about 25-30 minutes. However, volleyball matches are played with three sets each, so they normally last between 60-90 minutes.
A 3-game match usually takes between 60 and 90 minutes, depending on the level of confrontation between the players. On the other hand, a match played with the best of 3 out of 5 innings can last up to 150 minutes (2.5 hours).
Approximately each set lasts 20 minutes, and the entire duration of the game is reduced from 60 to 65 minutes. Matches at this level consist of five sets, each lasting approximately 20 to 25 minutes. In general, the entire game with 5 sets usually takes about 2 hours, 4 sets – about 1 1/2 hours, if 3 sets – a little over an hour.
Typical Match Lengths in Volleyball
Each match will take on average about 25 minutes and there will be 2-3 matches in each match. All games have an allotted time of one hour to play all three games. Each match will last between 20 and 30 minutes, and club volleyball matches are best played in two out of three games.
In the regular game, teams win a volleyball game by winning two of three innings. The team that wins the most sets wins the game and ends the volleyball match. 2 wins in 3 innings means the volleyball team with 2 wins in 3 innings wins, 3 in 5 innings means the volleyball team with 3 wins in 5 innings wins.
The game of volleyball is played for points, and the team that manages to earn the last points needed to win the game is declared the winner, after which the game ends. Each team will play to earn a 2 point lead in this timed volleyball match. Volleyball matches are always won by two points, so if there is a 24-24 match between two teams and two teams, the teams must score 2 points before the opponent scores one to win.
A Slight Variation for Beach Volleyball
In beach volleyball, players switch sides after scoring seven points in the first two sets. In beach volleyball, a set is the time a team scores 21 points from a 2-point lead. If the score is 25-24 or 21-20 (or 15-14 in a tiebreaker), the overtime required by either side to gain a 2-point advantage may be considered overtime.
The main factors that increase playing time are establishing a 2-point lead at 25-24, 21-20 or 15-14 and having to play playoff sets. For example, if there are 25 points in a set, players may need 20-30 minutes, while a 15-point playoff set is often much shorter. A fifteen-point playoff game usually lasts about 20 minutes.
To win, a team must have a 2-point lead at the end of the 8-minute actual game, or be the first team to score 15 points. If each team wins 2 games, the fifth and final game is 15 points and the team must lead by 2 points to win. If no players are present during a match, the opposing team automatically wins all three matches.
No-shows in Volleyball Matches
If there are no players on the team after fifteen minutes, the team will lose all three games. Teams lose a match every ten minutes after the scheduled start time unless there is a quorum of players. If an incomplete team is present and does not have enough players to start the match and a full team is expected, they will lose the match every ten minutes after playing time.
All game breaks must be three minutes long, allowing teams time to change teams and notify officials of the line-up. It is also clarified that each player must be in his place during the service; points scored by the wrong server are cancelled; simultaneous contacts of two players are considered one; time-outs must last one minute, while a time-out due to injury may last five minutes; and the rest time between matches is set at three minutes.
In traditional volleyball, breaks are 3 minutes, although match officials may extend the interval between the second and third sets to 10 minutes.
A Primer on Volleyball Rallies
Volleyball rallies last about 5 seconds on average, and the approximate time between rallies is about 14 seconds. It’s safe to say that a typical volleyball game lasts 24 to 30 minutes. Typically, we see a volleyball game that lasts or is between 60 and 90 minutes, with 3 games of 20 or 30 minutes each.
I have given the approximate duration of a volleyball match, in fact a volleyball match is never played based on a time slot or anything. The length of a volleyball match varies greatly depending on how equal the teams are and how many sets are played. There are a number of procedural elements in a volleyball match that can increase the length of a match, but the average length of a match in minutes is closely related to the number of points needed to win a set.
So we know that the action of a volleyball game describes an exchange and that a set takes about 25 minutes to play, but it’s important to note that there is some time between exchanges.
Knowing that each match will be limited to two sets with an average duration of 25 minutes allows the organizers to plan the tournament with more accurate time slots and less delay. A typical beach volleyball game is played in a 2 out of 3 format with a set of 21 points. Each match will have 3-5 individual matches (i.e. sets) of 25 points. In a 5 set game, the first four sets are worth 25 points and the winning team must win the set by at least 2 points.