The legality of blockers being in a passer’s line of sight really comes down to whether or not they moved to get in your way. Most teams go to great lengths to make sure there is at least one person between the opponent’s passer and your server so they have a better chance of diverting their opponent’s offense, and that’s acceptable.

This situation becomes a problem when the service team is watching you and actively moving to get in your way.

So a team can have their front row (and back row, for that matter) players set up however they see fit, as long as they are in the correct order/rotation. But if these players move in order to block the view of passers-by, then they have committed a foul and you must receive the ball.

If you have a problem with the other team’s throw but the referee doesn’t seem to notice, try to exaggerate the problem by moving your head from side to side while trying to see around the other team’s blockers. Hopefully the ref will notice this and take note of whether the other team is actively blocking your site from the server. If he/she doesn’t notice and you are in real trouble, ask your subtitle to talk to the referee.

However, this cannot be called on a server, and they can move wherever they want to make their lives more difficult. Many servers like to position themselves behind as many of their teammates as possible for this very reason, and that’s legal.

Good luck with your service receive efforts. To view an illustration of referee calls for evaluation, visit volleyball-life.com.