A ball must cross inside both antennas—unless it is a recoverable first hit.

The ruleset and effective version used here

This page applies the FIVB Official Volleyball Rules 2025–2028 for six-player indoor volleyball, especially Rules 2.4, 8.4 and 10.1. The edition was approved by the 39th FIVB World Congress in 2024 and applies to competitions beginning after 1 January 2025.

It is the international baseline, not a universal statement for beach volleyball, sitting volleyball, national school codes, recreational leagues or every domestic federation. Their equipment, playing-area and review rules may differ; the appointed competition regulations control where they supplement the FIVB text.

What an antenna actually marks

FIVB Rule 2.4 specifies a flexible antenna 1.80 m long and 10 mm in diameter at the outer edge of each side band. Its top 80 cm projects above the net. The antennas are part of the net and mark the two side limits of the crossing space.

The antenna is therefore a net-plane marker, not a floor boundary. A ball may cross legally near an antenna and then land on a sideline; that landing is in. Conversely, a ball may cross outside an antenna and later curve or deflect into the court; the earlier crossing fault still decides the rally.

Crossing, external and lower space are different

• Crossing space: above the top of the net, between the antennas and their imaginary upward extensions, and below the ceiling. A ball sent to the opponent's court must use this space (Rule 10.1.1).
• External space: the parts of the net's vertical plane outside both the crossing space and lower space. This is where the narrow first-hit recovery in Rule 10.1.2 operates.
• Lower space: the area beneath the net, bounded at the sides by the posts. A ball heading toward the opponent's court remains live until it has completely crossed this space (Rule 10.1.3).

“Outside the antenna” and “under the net” should not be used interchangeably; their live-ball tests are different.

How to judge the ball's route

1. Identify the team hit. Was this the first, second or third contact? A block contact does not count as a team hit under Rule 14.4.1.
2. Watch the vertical plane of the net. Landing position cannot cure an illegal crossing.
3. Check for contact. Any ball contact with an antenna, rope, post or the net outside a side band is out under Rule 8.4.3.
4. Name the space. A ball to the opponent's court must cross wholly within the crossing space; a complete lower-space crossing is out.
5. Test the only external-space recovery. It must come from the first team hit, enter the opponent's free zone and be returned through the same external space within the remaining hits.
6. Award the rally. A crossing or antenna fault gives the opponent a point and the next service, or continued service if that opponent was already serving (Rules 6.1.1–6.1.3).

Partly outside is still out

FIVB Rule 8.4.4 says the ball is out when it crosses the net plane partially or totally outside the crossing space, subject only to Rule 10.1.2. The whole ball does not need to pass beyond the antenna line. If part of the ball crosses outside the antenna's imaginary extension on its way to the opponent's court, the crossing is faulty.

The same principle applies to a serve. Rule 12.6.2 makes a correctly hit serve faulty if it does not cross the net plane completely through the crossing space. A serve may touch the net between the antennas and continue, but antenna contact or an outside crossing ends the rally.

Antenna, post and outside-net contacts end the rally

For the ball, FIVB Rule 8.4.3 groups together contact with an antenna, rope, post or the net outside the side bands: each makes the ball out. Officials do not wait for the ball to land and do not treat an antenna clip like an ordinary net touch.

By contrast, Rule 10.2 permits the ball to touch the net while crossing. A ball driven into the net between the antennas can also be recovered within the three team hits under Rule 10.3.1. The decisive distinction is ordinary net contact inside the legal area versus contact with the antenna or external net equipment.

All conditions for an external-space save

Rule 10.1.2 allows recovery only when a ball from the team's first hit has crossed the net plane totally or partly through the external space into the opponent's free zone. The team may then use its remaining hits, but every condition matters:

• The chasing player may enter the opponent's free zone but must not touch the opponent's court, except for the limited foot contact allowed by Rule 11.2.2.1: part of the foot remains on or above the centre line and there is no interference.
• The ball must cross the net plane back through the external space on the same side of the court. Returning it through the crossing space or around the opposite antenna makes it out.
• The team must remain within its hit allowance. Commonly, the first hit sends the ball out, the second retrieves it, and the third returns it to the opponent.
• The opponents may not prevent the legal recovery action.

If the ball entered the opponent's free zone through the external space from the second or third team hit, Rule 10.1.2.3 makes it out at the moment it crosses the net plane. There is no chase-and-return option.

An under-net ball is not dead until it crosses completely

Rule 10.1.3 keeps a ball heading through the lower space live until the entire ball has crossed the vertical plane of the net. Before that instant, a teammate may play it back if the team still has a hit and no player-space or interference fault occurs. Once the ball has crossed completely, Rule 8.4.5 makes it out.

This ball-path decision is separate from a player's under-net conduct. A player may commit an earlier fault by interfering with the opponent under Rule 11.4.2 or by placing a foot completely in the opponent's court under Rule 11.4.3.

A player's antenna touch uses a different test

A ball touching the antenna is always out. Player contact is judged under FIVB Rules 11.3 and 11.4. A player commits a fault by touching the antenna during the action of playing the ball, or by otherwise using or contacting the net structure in a way that interferes with play. The action includes take-off, the hit or attempt, and landing safely ready for a new action.

Not every brush with equipment is a fault. A player may touch the post, ropes or net outside the antennas if it does not interfere with play, and touching the net outside an antenna is not itself a net fault (apart from an assisted hit under Rule 9.1.3). If a ball drives the net into an opponent, Rule 11.3.3 says the opponent has not committed a fault.

A sharp attack clips the antenna and lands on the line

Situation: Blue's third-hit attack touches the antenna, deflects inward and lands on Red's sideline.

FIVB 2025–2028 ruling: point and service to Red. The antenna contact made the ball out under Rule 8.4.3 before the floor contact; the in-bounds landing cannot restore legality.

A first-hit dig flies outside the antenna

Situation: Blue's serve-reception, the first team hit, crosses outside the left antenna into Red's free zone. Blue's setter runs around the post, does not interfere or step on Red's court, and plays the ball back outside the same left antenna. Blue returns it legally on the third hit.

FIVB 2025–2028 ruling: play continues. This satisfies Rule 10.1.2 because the original ball was a first hit and the return used the same external space within the team's remaining hits.

A set travels into the opponent's free zone

Situation: Blue's second contact passes completely outside an antenna into Red's free zone. A Blue player is in position to chase it.

FIVB 2025–2028 ruling: the ball is out when it crosses the net plane. Rule 10.1.2.3 limits recovery to a ball coming from the first team hit; the availability of a third contact does not make this second-hit route recoverable.

The recovery comes back through the wrong space

Situation: a legal first-hit chase begins outside the right antenna, but the retriever sends the ball back between the antennas.

FIVB 2025–2028 ruling: the ball is out. Rule 10.1.2.2 requires it to cross back through the external space on the same side; a return through the ordinary crossing space does not satisfy the recovery route.

Who makes the call and what video can check

The first referee decides balls crossing outside the crossing space or contacting the antenna on that referee's side under Rule 23.3.2.3. Line judges signal antenna contacts, outside crossings and relevant player contact with the upper 80 cm of the antenna under Rule 29.2.1; their flag signal is waved above the head and then pointed toward the antenna.

Where the FIVB Video Challenge System is in use and the technology is available, the 2026 Regulations, section 2.5, list “Antenna Touch” by the ball or a player as a challenge type. A challenge to the last action must be requested within seven seconds. The 2026 in-rally bookmark procedure is a rule test: an earlier action can be challenged only if it was bookmarked during the rally. Inconclusive footage leaves the original decision in place and the team retains the challenge.

A limited ceiling test does not move the antennas

The baseline Rule 8.4.2 makes ceiling contact out. FIVB announced a 2026 test for the Volleyball Nations League, FIVB U17 World Championships and 2026 Continental Championships: a first- or second-hit ball contacting venue infrastructure above the field of play may continue if it remains playable on the same side; a rebound into the opponent's court is a fault. Spider-cam or crane-cam contact inside the field of play still produces a replay.

This is a named-event test, not a general rewrite of Rules 8.4.3, 8.4.4 or 10.1. The antennas still delimit the crossing space. Outside those events, use the controlling competition regulations rather than importing the test.

Claims that miss the decisive fact

• “It landed in, so it is good.” Not if it touched an antenna or crossed partly outside first.
• “The whole ball must be outside the antenna.” Rule 8.4.4 also covers a partially outside crossing.
• “Any first hit outside an antenna can be saved.” It must enter the opponent's free zone and return through the same external space within the remaining hits.
• “A second-contact set can be chased because one hit remains.” Rule 10.1.2.3 makes it out at the net plane.
• “Ball contact and player contact use the same test.” Ball contact is out; player contact depends on the action of playing the ball or interference.
• “Under the net means dead immediately.” The lower-space ball remains live until it crosses completely.

Governing-body sources and effective version

• FIVB — Official Volleyball Rules 2025–2028, Rules 2.4, 6.1, 8.4, 10.1–10.3, 11.3–11.4, 12.6.2, 23.3.2.3 and 29.2.1; Diagrams 5a–5b
• FIVB — Volleyball Video Challenge System Regulations 2026, sections 1.5, 2.5, 4, 6 and 8
• FIVB — 2026 competition rule tests, 27 February 2026 (ceiling contact and mid-rally challenge procedure)

Checked against the FIVB rulebook implemented for competitions beginning after 1 January 2025, the 2026 Video Challenge System Regulations and the 2026 test notice. Event handbooks and national federation rules may supplement or replace this international baseline; beach and sitting volleyball are outside this page's scope.