Santa Cruz Volleyball Forum

IT always comes up: How can you recover a ball hit by your partner on a first contact UNDER the net but into opponents territory? Can you go AROUND the poles, right of the antennae but return the same way, go around the antennae but return a different way? The “additional” question is: “what can an opponent do, since there is no real “defense occurring near the play” where incidental contact might occur (should he “stay away” while the odd play is playing itself out)?

Is this question about going around the pole/antenna to make a play BACK onto your side of the court as long as the ball travels OUTSIDE the antenna and them you can send it over the net to you opponent Can your opponent's action/position become an issue if while you are playing the ball outside the boundaries and your "paths" might cross? The ball must travel back to your side OUTSIDE the antenna but you don’t need to follow either pathways of the ball. You can move under the net to get to the ball as long as there is a safe path to get there and you don’t interfere with the position of your opponent.

It would be my interpretation that the defender is not obligated to leave his or her position if that position is part of a normal defensive strategy .. in other words... if I saw this type of play developing I COULD NOT run away from original position to go and put my self in the path my opponent's attempt to make that 1 in a 1,000 play ! That would also be the case if my opponent is 250 lbs and running full steam ahead....
Volleyball IS NOT A FULL CONTACT SPORT...(yet!).
I always relate these questions to running a sanctioned CBVA and watching this type of play happen on crt. #4. The role of a ref is IMPORTANT to say the least...Having your ref sit at the pole and be connected to your match is all part of this very unique game where players officiate the game for each other.
That "third party" involvement as the da' Judge of the Court is all part of this game.

Now in a pick up game, being played on Thursday afternoon, somewhere in Central California, if there is a play or rule interpretation in question... do THE RIGHT THING and keep the spirit of Good Sportsman(woman)ship alive ,along with the fact that we are a small community of "friendly" people who LOVE this game and take the "High Road" and put two thumbs up and say "Let's replay it".
remember we do this for "RE-CREATION".... see ya at the beach on April 25th..... mhullo
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