If you don’t know how volleyball scoring works, you probably don’t know the term “side out.” The term “side out” refers to the old volleyball scoring system that hasn’t been used since 1999.
In volleyball, the term side out indicates the end of a team’s right to serve. Each team wants the opponent to side out because this allows them to take control of the serve, and the side that serves the ball is able to dictate the flow of a volleyball game by directing the ball where advantageous.
In old and earlier versions of the Volleyball Rules, the original meaning of the term “side out” meant that a team could only score if it was the team on duty.
With the side scoring system in volleyball, only the team that served the ball could score a point. If one team did not score a point, it would be an out and the other team would serve the ball in recognition of winning the game. With an extra score, the first team with 15 points will win the game.
How Non-Decisive Matches in Volleyball Are Scored
Each non-decisive match will be won by the first team to score 25 points with a minimum two-point lead (no point limit). If each team wins a set, they enter the third set, which only scores 15 points (again, a win by 2 with no limit).
Match point means that the team has already won the set and is within one point of winning the match until the end of the competition. Set Point is also known as Game Point which means the team needs an extra point to win this game to 21.
A point is awarded only if the serving team scores for the goal. This means that the receiving team cannot score and can only get the serve by winning the game. A side out in volleyball is when the receiving team wins the game and has a chance to serve later.
A side out in volleyball occurs when the team serving the ball fails to win a point in the game, resulting in the loss of the serve by the opponent. A side out is now defined simply as when the receiving team is entitled to serve by winning a point. Now that the “rally” system is used, the term simply refers to a service that changes hands.
What ‘Side Outside’ Means in Volleyball
The term “side outside” can be heard during a volleyball match, although its original definition has become obsolete due to recent rule changes. The term “side out” was used to refer to an obsolete volleyball scoring rule called “side scoring”, whereby a winning point could only be scored by the serving team. Until 1999, volleyball was almost always played with side scoring.
Most volleyball disciplines have phased out side scoring because it can lead to very long games in which teams only exchange serves and do not score. Side scoring means that a volleyball team can only score when they have a serve.
In elite beach volleyball, a team is more likely to score from side position than from defense (Koch and Tilp, 2009b; Giatsis et al., 2015; Sicoli et al., 2016). As you rise to higher levels of volleyball, the sideline is where teams should have the most advantage. However, when we look at top level volleyball, teams tend to want to score in side outs with 60% or higher (with some teams being much more effective than this). When one team arrives at the meeting point (more on this below), both teams switch from rally scoring to bypass scoring.
The winner of the exchange will serve next, so the lateral and defense are constantly changing between teams (FIVB, 2017). In play 3, player 2 plays a side out, the serving team scores, and player 2 receives the next serve in play 4.
In the Event of a Draw in Volleyball
In a draw, the team receives one point for each game won, regardless of who served. In today’s game, that simply means whatever point a team wins when their opponent serves… but of course, that’s not all. Teams change sides of the net every 7 points scored to make sure the team is not on the good side for the duration of the match.
In a typical side game, the team receives the opponent’s serve, passes the ball, and attempts to score by attacking (Koch and Tilp, 2009a). The serving side defends and tries to defend the offense by blocking/digging and scoring for itself. While the server must change every time there is a time change, the server can be the same for each side of the team. This simply represents the order of services, as the team has to rotate servers back and forth every time the team moves laterally (more on what this means later).
If the serve hits the net and goes out of bounds at any time, it is considered an out and the ball is passed to the other team. A goal serve is considered in play unless 1) continues over the net or 2) lands outside the opponents’ court without touching the opponent’s team. Trickle Serve is a serve in which the ball hits the volleyball net and drips onto the opponent’s side, turning into an ace (see below). If 2 players from the same team touch the ball at the same time, it is considered a touch and either player may play the ball.
In addition, during the team’s first hit, except for the serve, the ball may touch different parts of the body in succession, provided that the contact occurs during the action. If there are three contacts of the same sex, the referee stops the game and awards the service and a point to the opposing team. Rock/paper/scissors determines which team gets the choice between serve or court.