Ten matches on one court. Every team plays four, works exactly two, and never works two matches in a row.
10 matches in 10 rounds, 9:00 am to about 4:30 pm (7 hr 30 min). Each team plays 4 and works 2.
Show one team's day
Type scores as matches finish. The table re-sorts with the tiebreakers you pick.
USA Volleyball style: match record, head-to-head, set %, point %.
| Place | Team | Matches | Sets | Set % | Points | Point % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team 1 | ||||||
| Team 2 | ||||||
| Team 3 | ||||||
| Team 4 | ||||||
| Team 5 |
Names and scores are saved in this browser.
A pool of five divides neatly: ten matches, so each team works two. It is a long pool, about seven and a half hours at 45 minutes a match, so many events switch to two sets to 25 for pools of five.
Why not two courts? Two matches at once need four teams playing and two working, and a pool of five has only five. If you have a second court, split the day differently or bring in outside officials.
Events don't all use the same rules, so pick yours above the standings. The USA Volleyball tie-break flow chart for junior qualifiers goes: match record first. Two tied teams are split by their head-to-head match. With three or more, a team that beat all the others goes first and one that lost to all of them goes last; then set percentage (sets won out of sets played), then point percentage. Volleyball World events rank on matches won, then match points, then set ratio (sets won divided by sets lost), then point ratio, then the match between the tied teams. Their match points (3 for a 3-0 or 3-1 win, 2 for 3-2, 1 for a 2-3 loss) are for best of 5. For best of 3 the international option uses FIVB's best-of-3 scale: 2 for a win, 1 for a loss. Once every match is played that can't change the order, so set ratio does the work. Regions set their own order too: Ohio Valley's pool sheets use match record, set percentage, then point differential, and never use head-to-head in a three-way tie. Many rec pools count sets won (a count, not a percentage), which the "Sets won first" option does.
With two pools, the usual finish is a crossover: each pool winner plays the other pool's runner-up, and the winners meet in the final. The third-place teams work the crossovers, and the loser of the first crossover works the final.
Seed the pools in a snake so they are even: pool A gets seeds 1, 4, 5, 8 and pool B gets 2, 3, 6, 7. With 6 to 8 teams, pick 2 pools above to get both pools, the crossovers and the final on one sheet.
Ten. Each team plays four matches and works two.
Not with work teams. Two courts need four teams playing and two working at the same time. Without work teams you can run two courts, but one team will still sit out each round.
About 7 hours 30 minutes at 45 minutes a match, or just under 6 hours with two sets to 25.