How a volleyball match works

1. Two teams of six, one each side of a high net, try to ground the ball on the other side.
2. Every rally ends with a point: the team that lands the ball on the other court, or whose opponents make a fault, scores it and serves next.
3. The first team to 25 points, with a lead of 2, wins the set.
4. The first team to win three sets wins the match. At two sets all, a fifth set is played to 15.
5. Each time a team wins the serve back, its players move one place round, so everyone takes a turn at every position.

Reading the score

A score such as 2-1, 18-15 means sets stand at two to one and the current set is at 18 points to 15.

How long

There is no clock: the match ends when a team wins three sets.

Beach volleyball

Two a side on sand: sets to 21, and the first to two sets wins, with a third set to 15.