VB Rally Tally iconBVB Rally Tally icon Rally Tally ← Back to site
The stats, in depth

What actually counts as each stat

A short, honest list: ace, block, kill (a side-out on the beach), unforced error, and the Net Earned that ties them together. Here is what counts, what does not, and where even seasoned scorekeepers disagree.

Switch apps for the right wording: indoor says kill and tracks digs, beach says side-out.

Rally Tally counts only what your side controls: the points you earn (aces, blocks, kills or side-outs) and the points you give away (your errors). The other team's mistakes stay off the sheet. That is what keeps Net Earned honest.

🎯
Earned point

Ace

Earned

A serve that wins the point on its own: the other side cannot put up a playable ball.

Counts as an ace

  • Lands in, untouched.
  • Touched but shanked, no playable pass.
  • First contact flies over or out, unplayable.
  • A fault on the pass (a lift or double).

Does not count

  • The pass is fine but a later contact breaks down.
  • A teammate digs it and the rally goes on.
  • Your serve misses (that is your error).

In Rally Tally: an ace is "your serve the other team can't return (or shanks). A point for you."

YOUR SIDE THEIR SIDE untouched / shanked
Your serve, their problem: no playable pass means a point for you.

⚖ Where people disagree

Does a touched serve still count? Under NCAA and high-school rules, yes: the test is whether the ball stayed playable, not whether a finger grazed it. Casual scorers often assume an ace has to be untouched. Either way, every ace matches exactly one reception error on the other team. Rally Tally keeps the simple view: if they could not return it, it is an ace.

Sources: NCAA Tips for Volleyball Statistics, SDHSAA stat guidelines, The Volleyball Analyst on pass ratings.

🧱
Earned point

Block

Earned

A block that ends the rally in your favor: the attack comes off their hitter, hits your block, and drops on their side.

Counts as a block

  • You stuff the attack onto their floor.
  • It deflects out off their hitter.
  • The rally ends right there, your point.

Does not count

  • A soft touch that only slows the ball.
  • A deflection your side then digs and plays on.
  • A block into the net or out on your side (an error).

In Rally Tally: a block is "your block that puts the ball down for a point." Touches that only slow the ball are part of the rally, not a stat.

YOUR SIDE THEIR SIDE their attack stuffed down
Their swing meets your hands at the net and drops on their side.

⚖ Where people disagree

Solo or assist? When two players go up together, each gets a full block assist, but the team total counts assists as a half so one play is not double-counted. Rally Tally is player-first: the blocker who ends the rally gets the block. Analysts also note the box score ignores soft "block touches" that set up an easy dig.

No assists on the beach. With two players a side, a block is credited in full to the one blocker. (Indoors, two players up together split the team credit.) Analysts also note the box score ignores soft "block touches" that set up an easy dig.

Sources: NCAA Tips for Volleyball Statistics, SDHSAA stat guidelines, Smarter Volley on evaluating blocking.

💥
Earned point

KillSide-out

Earned

An attack that ends the rally for a point: a spike, tip, or roll they cannot dig and return.

Your attack that ends the rally for a point, however it gets there: a hard hit, a poke, a cut, even a bump kill.

Counts as a killside-out

  • Your attack lands in, no return.
  • It deflects out off their block.
  • It forces an immediate, unplayable error.
  • Tips, pokes, cuts, and bump kills all count.
  • Tips and rolls count, not just hard spikes.

Does not count

  • They dig it and keep it alive.
  • A free ball or a hit just to stay alive.
  • Your attack goes out or into the net (an error).

In Rally Tally: a kill is "your attack (spike/tip/roll) that ends the rally for a point."

In Rally Tally: a side-out is "your attack that ends the rally for a point: a hard hit, a poke/cut shot, even a bump kill." Renamed from "kill" because a beach point comes in many forms.

YOUR SIDE THEIR SIDE your attack point
Your swing finishes the rally on their floor.

⚖ Where people disagree

"Side-out" has a stricter meaning too: the receiving team winning the rally and taking back serve. Rally Tally uses it more loosely, for any point your attack finishes, the way many players say it.

When your hit deflects off the block and out, scorers must call it a killside-out (off the block) or your error (you hit it out). The close ones go either way. This stat also feeds hitting efficiency, (kills minus errors) over attempts, which is why advanced mode separates an attack error from other errors.

Sources: NCAA Tips for Volleyball Statistics, SoloStats glossary, VolleyballVault on side-out, PlayingVolley on side-out %.

↩️
Given point

Unforced error

Given

A point you hand over on your own: a missed serve, a whistled set, a net touch, a foot fault. No one earned it off you.

Counts as your error

  • Serve into the net or out.
  • A double or lift on a set or pass.
  • Net touch, foot fault, or rotation fault.
  • An attack into the net or out.

Not your error

  • The other team's mistake (not counted at all).
  • A great play by them that earns the point.

In Rally Tally: your teamside "hands the point over on its own: serve into the net/out, ball-handling, net touch, foot fault, etc." Simple mode uses one ERR button; advanced splits off the attack error to compute hitting %.

YOUR SIDE THEIR SIDE into the net / out
Given away: a serve or attack you put into the net or out.

⚖ Where people disagree

Volleyball has no official "unforced" tag. Unlike tennis, the rulebooks just record categories: service, attack, reception, ball-handling, and block errors. Some coaches argue a shanked great serve or a hit stuffed by a great block was "earned" by the opponent and should not weigh the same. Rally Tally takes the practical line: your rally-ending mistakes go in Given, and the other team's points are simply left off your sheet.

Sources: Mark Lebedew, "When Is An Error Not An Error?", Coaching Volleyball on error avoidance, NCAA Tips for Volleyball Statistics.

⚖️
The result

Net Earned

Result

One number that ties it together: add up what you earned, subtract what you gave away. It can be positive or negative.

Earned
7
−
Given
3
=
Net Earned
+4

Earned is your aces, blocks, and killsside-outs. Given is your unforced errors. The app also shows a success %: your earned points as a share of everything you put on the sheet.

In Rally Tally: Net Earned rolls up at every level (This Game, Tournament,Session, Lifetime), and a 🐐 GOAT badge (a 🐴 pony on the beach) follows whoever holds the top Net Earned right now.

Pick your depth: keep a simple Net Earned sheet, or switch to Advanced to split attack errors from in-play balls and unlock kill % and hitting %. Just want the score? Score only turns the app into a plain shared scoreboard.

Earned 7 − Given 3 = +4
What you earned, less what you gave away.

⚖ Where people disagree

This is not an official volleyball stat, and Rally Tally does not claim to have invented it. Box scores do have a "points" column, and analysts have long tracked an earned-minus-given differential, but volleyball has no true plus/minus like hockey or basketball. It is also position-biased: big hitters who only swing on good chances post a strong number, while setters and defenders who touch every ball look flatter. One honest lens, not the whole picture.

Sources: The Volleyball Analyst on point-scoring performance, JVA on points that win, Coaching Volleyball on plus and minus points.

Where these definitions come from

We cross-checked Rally Tally's wording against governing-body stat rules, established glossaries, and respected coaches and analysts:

NCAA Tips for Volleyball Statistics
ihsvca.com/ncaa-tips-for-volleyball-statistics
SDHSAA Statistical Guidelines (high-school)
sdhsaa.com/volleyball-stats
SoloStats Volleyball Stat Glossary
solostatslive.com/definitions/volleyball-stat-glossary
The Volleyball Analyst: pass ratings
thevolleyballanalyst.wordpress.com
Smarter Volley: evaluating blocking
smartervolley.substack.com
VolleyballVault: side-out explained
volleyballvault.com/side-out-in-volleyball
PlayingVolley: side-out percentage
playingvolley.com/what-is-side-out
Mark Lebedew: when is an error not an error?
marklebedew.com
Coaching Volleyball: plus and minus points
coachingvb.com
The Volleyball Analyst: point-scoring performance
thevolleyballanalyst.wordpress.com

Stat conventions vary by league and scorekeeper, and the gray areas above are genuine. Rally Tally favors a simple, consistent reading so the numbers stay honest and easy to keep from the sideline.

That is the whole stat sheet

A short, honest list you can keep with a tap or two. Ready to try it on your own team?

Download on theApp Store Open the Beach app →