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
Serving Up District Volleyball Results
November 3, 2014
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The MHSAA volleyball tournament begins today with 169 District matches over four classes.
Stay up to the moment on every result and future matchup on MHSAA.com.
Be sure to click on MHSAA Score Center throughout tonight and this week for scores as we receive them, and see brackets updated real-time with next game information for every class. (See the "view class" menu in the upper right-hand corner of the brackets page to switch between classes, and click the rectangles within the "bracket navigation" box to switch among District tournaments.)
The volleyball season will conclude Nov. 22 at Battle Creek's Kellogg Arena. All four Finals will be covered on Second Half, with a preview of all 16 semifinalists published Nov. 19.
PHOTO: Saginaw Valley Lutheran finished runner-up at the Tri-Valley Conference all-division tournament Saturday, to North Branch. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)