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
Highlight Reel: Mason/Portage Central
November 12, 2014
The Mason volleyball team defeated Portage Central 3-2 in a Class A Regional Semifinal on Tuesday. Click the headings below for highlights and the final link to watch the match in full.
Delicate Delbridge Delivers - A long rally in set 1 between Mason and Portage Central ends when the Bulldogs' Taylor Delbridge gently places the ball in the gap. Mason won the first set and the match in five.
Second Set Service Ace - Portage Central held the upper hand in the second set against Mason. Hannah Gerhke closes out the set with a service ace.
Mustangs Go Up, 2-1 - Portage Central took the third set against Mason, 25-19, with Allison Harding closing things out with a kill.
Richmond Helps Jumpstart Bulldogs - Mason went on a 14-5 run to begin the fourth set against Portage Central. Here's Kaycee Richmond with a point during that streak.
What A Way To Go Willow! - With the score tied 13-13 in the fifth and final set, Mason's Willow Martin scores on a kill and then this service ace to send the Bulldogs past Portage Central, 3-2, and into the Class A Regional Finals against Ann Arbor Huron.
Watch the match in full and order DVDs by Clicking Here.