RULES

Frequently Asked Questions and Rules

Court Availability and Waitlists

We are still searching for additional courts to allow teams who are on waitlists to participate but need your help to secure available facilities with at least two courts ideally within the Salt Lake, Davis, and/or Utah Counties but we will expand to more Wasatch, Weber, Summit, Juab, and Tooele locations if necessary. If you are affiliated with a Club Facility, High School, Middle School, Charter School, or Recreation Center that could be available to host (typically 7 AM to 7 PM on Saturdays and 3 PM to 11 PM on some Fridays) please contact me ASAP.

We have a long list of waitlisted teams hoping to attend and need to manage those requests better by standardizing how they are received. Club Directors should send all tournament-related email to UtahClubVolleyball@gmail.com and if they want a team added to a specific waitlist you must put the date of ONE event in the subject line, the name of the team(s), division(s) and age group(s) they hope to have play at that tournament. I will respond if/when any openings become available as we secure additional courts. Remember, teams that are registered and paid first get priority over other teams.

Validated Rosters and Age/Gender Waivers

Many Club Directors are struggling to get their players validated within the AAU and TM2Sign systems. We will require online validated rosters only at our Grand Prix and Super Regional Tournaments in April and May. Teams still must have current AAU numbers for all their coaches, players, and chaperones. Teams must bring a PRINTED roster using the AAU system, TM2Sign.com, or filled-in with this template. Athletes may only be listed on one roster and compete for one team during a tournament. Your completed printed roster must be given to the Site Director or the official at the Coaches meeting on your court (7:45 AM on Saturdays or 3:45 PM on Fridays).

Club Directors should start working now to validate rosters for the April and May tournaments. It takes time to get players, parents, and sometimes the AAU National Office involved to get memberships affiliated with the correct club. Here are links to documentation to help add your club members and update rosters within TM2Sign.

Since we are not using online rosters for age and gender waivers, teams must email UtahClubVolleyball@gmail.com with the words "Age Waiver" or "Gender Waiver" in the subject line to request one for each of the UCV tournaments where it is needed and include the name, age, and gender of the player along with the team name, age group, and division where they want to play. Boys are allowed to participate but the individual(s) must be 12 years-old or younger and only ONE may be on the court at the same time. Boys and age waivered girls are not allowed to play in any Grand Prix or Super Regional events. If a team with boys or any age waivered girls is in the finals of a particular division, that team must move up to the next division or age group for all their future events.

Officiating and Certified Scorekeepers

One certified up official will be provided on each court. Every team is scheduled to help with the rest of the officiating responsibilities including a down ref, two line judges, scorekeeper, bookkeeper, and libero tracker. Coaches are responsible to ensure each officiating job is being done correctly. Please review with your teams how to perform these duties. Encourage all your players AND coaches to watch the free scorekeeping training video on this webpage.

A rostered adult is required to be the second referee for ALL matches in every division. We want to avoid putting kids in a difficult situation interacting with adult coaches especially during high stakes matches. The only exception to this will be if BOTH playing teams coaches agree to allow a player to work as the down ref prior to the beginning of the match.

We need more certified officials! If you are interested in being an official for any of our tournaments this season, please send us your contact information through this link.

Seeding and Results

The GoogleSheet seeding document showing where every team is playing (with venue information in the bottom left corner) is typically posted by the Monday or Tuesday 11 to 12 days prior to each tournament. Changes are frequently made to this document potentially all the way up to the day of the tournament. Some individuals who are blocked from opening Google Documents by their workplace should browse using an Incognito or InPrivate window with your browser to view this document. Double-check when and where you play the night before the tournament.

The Results web page goes live several days before each event. This is what teams should use during the tournament to verify your schedule, results, and officiating assignments.

Rules and Format

More answers to many tournament format and rules questions can be found on this page. Please discuss venue-specific questions with the Site Director or the official on your court.

1. NEW for 2024 - Every participant at Utah AAU Events must have an AAU membership. This includes coaches, assistants, chaperones, site coordinators, tournament directors, officials, and athletes. Athletes may only be listed on one roster and compete for one team during a tournament. Teams must bring a printed roster using the AAU system, TM2Sign.com, or filled-in with this template. Your completed printed roster must be given to the Site Director or the official at the Coaches meeting on your court (7:45 AM on Saturdays, 3:45 PM on Fridays). Validated online rosters must be submitted via TM2Sign.com at least one week prior to our Grand Prix and Super Regional tournaments in April and May.

2. The AAU Volleyball Handbook and Regulations will be followed by all participants.

3. NEW for 2024 - Registration for each tournament MUST be completed (registered AND paid) at least SIX weeks in advance of each scheduled tournament date. No refunds will be given to teams that drop out of a tournament after that deadline.

4. Uniforms are required. However, Enforcement of uniform requirements will be more flexible for teams only attending local AAU events, but rules should be communicated to the coach and club in case they might attend any national-level events.

5. NEW for 2021 - The Open and Power divisions of every age group and the Premier division of 15s and older will play best 2 out of 3 in every match with no cap in any set (unless specifically mentioned otherwise in the tournament format). The Club division in every age group and Premier division for 14s and younger will just play 2 sets to 25 with a cap at 27 during pool play (unless specifically mentioned otherwise in the tournament format). Combined divisions will play the format that provided the most teams which is the division listed first. (For example: "Premier/Open" would use the Premier format and "Open/Premier" would use the Open format for that age group.) All tournament bracket matches in every age group and division will play best 2 out of 3 with no cap in every set (unless specifically mentioned otherwise in the tournament format). Teams should expect in our one-day tournaments to play at least 8 sets (typically at least 4 matches) and 14 sets (typically at least 7 matches) at our two-day events. A single-elimination tournament bracket typically follows pool play on Saturday. We try to format every division with 4 teams to a pool, but there will be exceptions beyond our control.

6. NEW for 2024 - For AAU Utah girls club volleyball events boys will be allowed to participate but the individual(s) must be 12 years-old or younger and only ONE may be on the court at the same time. Boys and age waivered girls are not allowed to play in any Grand Prix or Super Regional events. If a team with boys or any age waivered girls is in the finals of a particular division, that team must move up to the next division or age group for all their future events.

7. NEW for 2021 - The service line for 12 & under teams in the Club Division can be moved up 6'6¾" (2 meters) for all teams in that division. All 12 & Under teams in the Club division are allowed to step into the court when serving. The step-in line should be marked 6’6¾” (2 meters) from the usual service line.

8. The net height should be 2.24 m (7’4⅛ ”) for female 13-18s teams and 2.13 m (7’0”) for female 12 and under teams. The net height should be 2.43 m (7’11⅝”) for male 15-18s teams and 2.24 m (7’4⅛”) for male 13-14s teams and is 2.13 m (7’0”) for male 12 and under teams.

9. Unlimited substitution (at the service line or other convenient spot for the official to recognize) can be used by any 14 & under Club divisions (if desired). That form of unlimited substitution must remain in place for the entire set. All players must rotate in and out of the court in the same order for the entire set if using this method.

10. NEW for 2021 - Jewelry is allowed but only at the official’s discretion.

11. a. There is no shared hitting or serving during warm-ups. b. For each team’s first match of the day (5-4-4), they will have warm-up time of 5 minutes of shared ball handling, 4 minutes of solo court time for the serving team, and 4 minutes of solo court time for the receiving team. c. After all teams playing in a match have played a match (2-4-4), the remaining match warm-up will be: 2 minutes shared ball handling, 4 minutes of solo court time for the serving team, and 4 minutes of solo court time for the receiving team. d. All serving must be done during a team’s solo court time. Many teams may agree to take less time later in the day.

12. NEW for 2022 - A rostered adult is required to be the second referee for ALL matches in every division. We want to avoid putting kids in a difficult situation interacting with adult coaches especially during high stakes matches. The only exception to this will be if BOTH playing teams coaches agree to allow a player to work as the down ref prior to the beginning of the match.

13. NEW for 2024 - The tie breaking procedure for every age group and division is as follows:

Match % - Number of matches won divided by number of matches played (does not apply when teams play just 2 sets to 25)
Head to Head match result between two teams
Set % - Number of sets won divided by number of sets played
Point % - Total number of points you scored in the pool divided by total number of points scored against you
Coin Toss / Random

The rules will be applied sequentially without repeating any previous rule.

Teams will NOT play any tie-breaking matches (unless specifically mentioned otherwise in the tournament format ie: at our Grand Prix and Super Regional tournaments) as explained in detail on the rest of this page. Please discuss with the Tournament Director or Site Director if you have any questions.

PROCEDURES FOR BREAKING POOL PLAY RESULTS TIES
at a Utah AAU Grand Prix or Super Regional

At the conclusion of a pool, the pool finish positions of the teams are determined by their pool match records.

If there is a tie in match record among 2 or more teams in the pool, tie(s) will be resolved using the USAV GJNC
National Tie Break Rules procedures as follows:

Even in 3 team pools where all 3 sets are required to be played, match record and then set record will determine
a team’s finish in the pool.

TWO-WAY TIES: 2 teams tied in match record

The higher finishing team will be the team that won the pool play match between the 2 tied teams (head-to-head).

There will be no tie breaker sets.
This is the procedure for all two-way ties; the tied teams have already determined the better team through head-to-head competition.

THREE-WAY TIES: Where no team can advance to the Gold Division/Bracket with a free entry to AAU Nationals on the line (ie: Grand Prix and Super Regional tournaments)

There will be no tie breaker sets. Ties among teams will be resolved as follows:
If 3 or more teams are tied in match record, the ties are broken by applying the following steps, in order, without repeating any step. Head-to-Head results will not be used at any time in breaking a three-way tie:
1. Determine each team’s set percentage (divide each team’s total sets won in the pool by the total sets played).
The team with the highest set percentage is first.
2. If some or all of the teams have the same set percentage, then determine the point percentage of the teams that are still tied (divide each team’s total points scored by the total points scored by all the team’s opponents in that pool).
3. Of the teams still tied, the team with the highest point percentage has the next highest finish in the pool (finishes either first or second, depending on the outcome of the set percentage).
4. If two or more teams are still tied: Coin toss.

NON-ELIMINATION SCENARIOS

If no team is eliminated from an opportunity to advance to Gold with a free entry to AAU Nationals on the line (ie: Grand Prix and Super Regional tournaments) there will be no tie-breaking sets. In three-way ties, ties will be broken, without repetition, in this order:
1. Pool match record.
2. Head-to-head results. (Pool larger than 4 teams.)
3. Set percentage (sets won divided by total sets played).
4. Point percentage (each team’s total points scored divided by the total points scored by the team’s opponents in that pool).
5. Coin toss.

THREE-WAY TIES: Where 1 or more teams may advance to the Gold Division/Bracket with a free entry to AAU Nationals on the line (ie: Grand Prix and Super Regional tournaments)

There are several scenarios in which three-way ties can occur by teams with the same match record. The resolution for each tie breaker scenario depends on both the number of teams that can advance to Gold from the pool, AND which pool finish position is at stake for the tied teams. Playoff tie breaker(s) will only be played when more than two teams are tied with the same match AND set record in pool play.

SEEDING TIE BREAKER SETS

The seeds for teams tied in match record involved in the tie breaker sets are determined by:
1. Point percentage: Each team’s total points scored divided by the total points scored by the team’s opponents in that pool.
The team with the highest point percentage is seeded first.
If the teams are still tied:
2. Coin toss.

PLAYING TIE BREAKER SETS

Scenario One – 1 Team Advances
All tied teams will participate in tie breaker sets.
Set 1: the #2 seed will play the #3 seed, and the #1 seed will officiate. The loser of Set 1 will be in position #3 of the tied teams and will officiate the next tie breaker set.
Set 2: the winner of Set 1 will play the #1 seed and the loser of Set 1 will officiate. The winner of Set 2 will be in position #1 of the tied teams and the loser will be in position #2.
If, for any reason at the start of the second warmup period, one of the tied teams is unavailable for the resolution of the tie at the time the court official is ready to proceed, that team will automatically become third of the tied teams and the other two teams will play one tie breaker set. “Unavailable” is defined for a team playing in the tie-breaker set as having a legal roster to begin a match. For a team assigned to officiate a tie-breaker set, a team must have every required position covered.

Scenario Two – 2 Teams Advance
The #1 seed does not have a playoff set. The #1 seed finishes in position #1 of the tied teams.
The #2 seed will play the #3 seed and the #1 seed will officiate. The winner will be in position #2 of the tied teams and the loser of this set will be in position #3 of the tied teams.
If, for any reason at the start of the second warmup period, one of the tied teams is unavailable for the resolution of the tie at the time the court official is ready to proceed, that team will be ranked third of the tied teams. The remaining teams will finish first and second in the pool based on the tie breaker seeding process. No other penalty will be applied and no tie breaker set is played. “Unavailable” is defined for a team playing in the tie-breaker set as having a legal roster to begin a match. For a team assigned to officiate a tie-breaker set, a team must have every required position covered.

Scenario Three – Ties Involving More Than 3 Teams
Within a pool, should a tie occur involving more than 3 teams, the process for breaking that tie should be coordinated by the Site Director in coordination with the Tournament Director.

FORMAT FOR TIE BREAKER SETS

Tie break sets are played to 15 points with one team winning by two points, no cap. Teams will switch sides when the first team reaches 8 points (if there is a competitive advantage on one side or the other).

PENALTIES FOR MISSED TIE BREAKER SETS

It is the responsibility of a team’s coach to know if there is a potential tie in pool play finish and to have his/her team available courtside for tie breaker sets as soon as the last match of the pool is finished. Play of tie breaker sets will not be delayed in order to locate a team or provide time for a team to return to the court. In a three-way tie, where one or more teams is not at courtside at the finish of the last match of the pool, the teams remaining will play for position, if necessary.

The team(s) that left will finish lower than the team(s) that remained. The position of the team(s) that left will be determined following the tie break procedure as it pertains to the pool and advancing positions available. There are no other penalties for a team that is not present for tie breaking sets.