Be the Referee: Foot Save in Volleyball
By
Paige Winne
MHSAA Director of Brand Management
October 20, 2026
Be The Referee is a series of short messages designed to help educate people on the rules of different sports, to help them better understand the art of officiating, and to recruit officials.
Below is this week's segment – Foot Save in Volleyball - Listen
We have a soccer move today – but we’re on the volleyball court. Let me explain.
Team A dumps the ball over the net. A player for Team B is not able to get her hands on it but kicks it up into the air before it touches the ground. The ball is then set up for a spike, which delivers Team B a point. Or does it?
Is kicking the ball a legal move?
It is. Play would continue with the kick counting as the first touch. Team B is then able to set and spike as they would if the first hit came from a player’s hand.
There’s no rule against making a save with your foot, as long as the ball doesn’t touch the ground.
Previous 2026-27 editions
Oct. 13: Soccer Advantage - Listen
Oct. 6: Defensive Holding - Listen
Sept. 29: Minimum Number of Volleyball Players - Listen
Sept 22: Soccer Changes - Listen
Sept: 15: Dead Ball Penalty - Listen
Sept. 8: Libero Ejected - Listen
Sept. 1: Soccer Foul After Shot on Goal - Listen
Aug. 25: Fumble Out of Bounds - Listen
Officiating’s High Calling
October 28, 2016
One of the sports world’s better wordsmiths is Referee Magazine publisher Barry Mano. He’s also a fine thinker, as these artful lines demonstrated at the 2016 Officiating Industry Luncheon in San Antonio:
“Let me provide, in all subjectivity, some observations about our environment, about our fellow citizens. We are:
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“More generous but less forgiving.
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More open but less discriminating with that openness.
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More informed but less knowledgeable.
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More litigious but less willing to abide by the rules.
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Quick to seek an expert opinion, then just as quick to get a second opinion, one that agrees with ours.”
Barry is president of the National Association of Sports Officials (NASO) which helps contest officials at all levels aspire to be discriminating and knowledgeable adjudicators of fair and healthy competitive athletics.
At a time when the number of registered officials with the Michigan High School Athletic Association has sunk to a 30-year low, Barry’s words are a clarion call to young men and women of character to consider sports officiating as an avocation, or even vocation, that will enrich their lives immensely.