• SBVolley follows FIVB rules throughout all tournaments.

• If a dispute happens during a match, the referee’s call stands so play can continue. If the referee is unsure, a quick replay should be called and the match should move on.

• If you have a question about a rule interpretation, you may contact the Tournament Director.

• If you have a question about a specific play that happened on the court, the Tournament Director will guide you back to the referee for that match. The Tournament Director cannot make a call on something that was not seen.

• Respect is expected at all times - for opponents, teammates, referees, and staff.

• Disputes should never become personal. If something happens on the court, it is the referee’s responsibility to manage it.

• Trash talk between teams during play is not allowed. This includes any comments meant to distract an opponent.

  • 1st offense: Yellow card

  • 2nd offense: Red card

• At the start of each tournament, the Tournament Director will determine how many teams advance to playoffs, based on:

  • number of pools

  • number of teams

  • overall timeline/schedule

• In some cases, wildcard spots may be awarded. These may be announced at the beginning of the tournament, or announced as a possibility and then determined after pool play depending on timing.

• Wildcards may be used to:

  • make the playoff bracket an even number of teams

  • avoid teams receiving buys

  • adjust based on time constraints

• Wildcard decisions are solely at the discretion of the Tournament Director.

• If teams are tied in win/loss and the tie would cause a team to miss playoffs, SBVolley will not eliminate a team using point spread or head-to-head.

• Instead, a playoff game to 15 will determine which team advances.

• Head-to-head results are not used to eliminate a team from advancing.

How seeding is handled in tie scenarios:

• If there is a tie for 1st place and two teams advance from the pool:

  • seeding is determined by point totals (see Point Spread below)

  • if point totals are also tied, seeding will be decided by a random method (example: coin toss).

• If there is a tie for 2nd place and only two teams advance:

  • a playoff game to 15 determines the 2nd advancing team

  • the playoff game score is not included in point totals for seeding.

• SBVolley uses total points scored in pool play to help determine seeding, not elimination.

• Point totals are calculated by adding the points your team scores across pool play games.

  • Example: If a team wins 21–18, the winning team adds 21 points and the losing team adds 18 points.

  • The difference (like +3 / -3) is not used.

• When wildcard spots are available, they go to the teams with the highest point totals after the automatic qualifiers are removed.

• Example:

  • If there are 3 pools, and the top 2 teams from each pool advance (6 teams), then the next 2 teams with the highest point totals may receive wildcards to create an 8-team playoff bracket (when time allows).

  • In some cases, two teams from the same pool may earn wildcard playoff positions.