Be the Referee: Minimum Number of Volleyball Players
By
Paige Winne
MHSAA Director of Brand Management
September 29, 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 – Minimum Number of Volleyball Players - Listen
We’re on the volleyball court today, where the home team starts the match with only six players.
Midway through the first set, one of those six players suffers an ankle injury and can’t continue – leaving the home team with just five players.
What should happen?
Is the home team forced to default the match for not having enough players?
Does the home team just continue playing with five?
Or do they continue playing with five, but with the loss of rally or point every time the player lost to injury’s position rotates to serve?
If you said they can continue playing but lose a rally or point every time the injured player’s position rotates to serve, you are correct!
A minimum of six is needed to start – but you can finish a match with fewer than that.
Previous 2026-27 editions
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
Be The Referee: Missed Field Goals
November 5, 2020
This week, MHSAA officials coordinator Sam Davis presents a "You Make the Call" to test your knowledge on change of possession after a missed field goal.
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 - You Make the Call: Missed Field Goals - Listen
Let's get everyone in football game shape with the following “You Make the Call.” One team has a chance to kick a 50-yard field goal just before halftime. As the kicker approaches the ball being held at the 40-yard line, his plant leg slips and the kick comes up well short and wide as it rolls out of bounds at the 4-yard line.
Under high school rules, where will the team that forced the bad kick next snap the ball?
Believe it or not, under high school rules missed field goals that roll out of bounds before reaching the goal line are treated just like a punt. The new offense will put the ball in play 1st-and-10 from the 4-yard line.
Past editions
10/29: Automatic 1st Downs - Listen
10/22: You Make the Call: Illegal Kick - Listen
10/15: Toe the Line on Penalty Kicks - Listen
10/8: Disconcerting Acts - Listen
10/1: Ball Hits Soccer Referee - Listen
9/24: Clocking the Ball from the Shotgun - Listen