Volleyball is quite a high-intensity sport if you want to improve your cardio. If you wish to pursue the sport professionally or casually, the game will set your heart racing. You need to have top-tier stamina to be able to play well. However, if you are just starting, you might be curious about how long a college volleyball game is, and the short answer is – it depends.
Unlike football, basketball, and the like, volleyball games have no time restrictions. There is no running clock to tell you how much time you have before a round ends. Hence, understanding how long a college volleyball game runs require estimation. Let’s explore a bit more and see what variables contribute to the length of a volleyball game.
In this Article
How Long is a College Volleyball Game?
If you want a general estimate, a best-of-3 volleyball game typically lasts 60-90 minutes, and a best-of-5 can easily touch the 2-hour mark. However, at the college level, games are usually played best out of 5.
That being said, there is virtually no certainty of how long a game might last due to the lack of a countdown timer. Things like the team’s skill level, the rally’s length, and the number of sets played all contribute to the time.
In a nutshell, the game’s objective is for a team to win a rally. Winning rallies is how you score points in volleyball. Typically, the first team to score 25 points is the winner of a set. A set is a single volleyball “round,” and a best-of-5 volleyball match consists of five sets. The team to win three sets wins the match. If each team wins two sets, the game goes to a fifth and final set.
What is a rally in college Volleyball?
It begins when a team makes a play by serving the volleyball to the other team. A rally continues until either team wins the rally. How do you win? While the techniques and strategies can vary, a rally is won when the opposing team lets the ball hit the ground. When this happens, the other team wins the rally, scoring a single point.
As you can see, there is no telling how long a single rally may last. Both teams might keep running a rally for multiple minutes if both teams are seasoned and capable. However, in most cases, a rally typically lasts around 10 seconds.
Once you factor in the other time-consuming stuff like warmup time, breaks and timeouts, a 3-set game typically lasts 60-90 minutes. In contrast, a college 5-set volleyball match lasts around 90-150 minutes.
How Long Are College Volleyball Match Formats?
Generally speaking, college volleyball games are usually played in the best-of-5 format. However, specific colleges may use other formats, such as the best-of-3 or the best-of-2. Let’s see what each format entails.
2-Out-of-3
Also called best-of-3, this type of volleyball match is won when a team wins two sets out of 3. The first two sets are 25-point each, whereas the third set is 15 points. To win the first two sets, a team must score 25 points before the other one. If either team wins 1 set each, the match goes to a third set which is a 15-point set.
This format is most common amongst high schools and other medium-skill level tournaments. As mentioned earlier, a 2-out-of-3 match typically lasts 60-90 minutes.
3-Out-of-5
In a best-of-5 match, a team must win three sets to win the match. In this type of match, the first four sets are 25-point each. However, the last set is played to 15 points. 3-out-of-5 games are most common at high-level competitions such as colleges and international tournaments.
As for the game’s length, a best-of-5 volleyball match can roughly run 90-150 minutes.
Best-out-of-2
A best-out-of-2 match is unlike the other formats in that two sets are played, no matter who wins the first one. Additionally, unlike the other formats, scores are added up at the end of the second set in case of a tie, and whoever has the higher total score is declared the winner.
For example, if team A scores 25 points in the first set and 20 points in the second set, its total score will be 45. On the other hand, if team B scores 21 points in the first set and 25 points in the second set, its total score would be 46 points. Even though both teams won one set each, their total combined score of both sets is what determines the final winner. In this case, team B is the winner with 46 points.