USA Volleyball Referee Training and Education

I should look in the DCR, but that’s no fun … I would call for serve, and if the libero is still on the court, then at the moment of serve whistle and indicate positional fault, point. I think the libero would now be allowed to stay on the court for the next point, since a point has been awarded.

(If this was a young team or just learning, I’d fix it and explain the rule.)

Like Larry, I’d would whistle and beckon for serve, and if the illegal libero replacement is not fixed by the contact of serve, I would whistle and issue the point to the opponent and show the positional fault signal.

However, since there has not been a “completed rally,” I believe the libero would have to leave the court and the replaced player put back on until there was a completed rally.

And finally, I like Larry’s answer about a very young team or a team playing their first tournament…….if it was J.O.’s, however, they should know better.

I think if you call a position fault a rally is completed. So the libero could stay after that.

This actually happened in a match I was refereeing at the GJNC in Dallas. At the beginning of set 2 I watched the libero enter position 1 with her team receiving. Each team had LOR on their first 2 serves. When her team made it 3-2 I watched her run off the court then back into position 6, I beckoned for serve, whistled on contact of serve and called position fault. Libero trackers had her entered position 1 at the beginning of the set but nothing else (gee go figure) Coach Protested. fortunately I knew that they would have had to have 5 points minimum for her to be there. Protested denied and she had to sit out the next rally.

John, I think I follow everything you’re saying except the part about there needing to be 5 points minimum for her to be there. All there would need to be was another completed rally, right?
And as a side note, if she was going back into position 1 and in a tourney/region that allows the libero to serve (like mine) she wouldn’t even need to wait for a completed rally.

And, I think Oldsetter is correct that your whistle on contact of serve (with positional fault) counts as a separate rally and she should be allowed to step right back on right then. I would have them correct it and tell them that they can then immediately make the switch. Otherwise your libero trackers would most likely be at a loss as to what is going on. That might be true either way at that point!