The player on the right side always serves first, diagonally cross-court. The serve must land in the opposite service box — not in the kitchen. Hit it underhand only. One serve attempt, no second chances.

After the serve, both teams must let the ball bounce once before volleying. The serve bounces on the receiver's side first, then the return bounces on the server's side. After those two bounces, you can volley freely.

A fault ends the point immediately. The main faults: ball hits the net, ball goes out of bounds, serve lands in the kitchen, or the ball bounces twice before you return it.

The 7-foot zone on each side of the net is the Non-Volley Zone (Kitchen). You cannot hit the ball out of the air while standing in it — or even on the line. You can step in to hit a ball that has already bounced there.

You can only win a point when your team is serving. Win the rally as the receiver and you just win the serve back — not a point. When the serving team loses, the serve passes to the partner, then to the other team (side out).

Before each serve, call out three numbers — your score, their score, then server number (1 or 2). Example: "4 — 2 — 1"

First team to 11 points wins, but you must win by at least 2. If it's 10-10 keep playing until someone leads by 2. No side switching during pool play or quarterfinals — sides only switch in semifinals and finals.