In a volleyball game, how many players does each team have on the court?

In indoor volleyball, each team has six players on the court at a time: three in the front row and three in the back row. A team squad usually has up to 12 (or 14 in some competitions) players including substitutes.

Key rules of volleyball:

• The court is 18 metres long and 9 metres wide, divided by a net into two halves of 9 x 9 metres.
• The net height is 2.43 m for men and 2.24 m for women.

A team can touch the ball up to three times (besides the block) before sending it over the net. A player cannot hit the ball twice in a row.

Matches are played as best of five sets. The first four sets are played to 25 points, and the fifth (deciding) set is played to 15 points. A team must win a set by at least two points.

Rally-point scoring is used: a point is scored on every rally, no matter which team served.

Players rotate clockwise each time their team wins back the serve.

The "libero" is a specialised defensive player who wears a different-coloured jersey. The libero can replace back-row players freely, but cannot serve (in many competitions), block, or attack the ball above the height of the net.

About volleyball:

It was invented in 1895 by William G. Morgan at Holyoke, Massachusetts, USA, as "Mintonette".

The world governing body is the FIVB (Fédération Internationale de Volleyball), founded in 1947, with its headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland.

It became an Olympic sport in 1964 (Tokyo). Beach volleyball, played with two players per team, was added in 1996 (Atlanta).

The Volleyball Federation of India was formed in 1951.

Other team sizes: basketball has 5 players, kabaddi 7, hockey and football 11, and ice hockey 6.

Why not the other options?

• ✗Five players per side are used in basketball.
• ✗Seven players per side are used in kabaddi and netball.
• ✗Nine players per side are used in baseball.