Twenty-one matches in eleven rounds. Every team plays six, works exactly three, and never plays three in a row.
21 matches in 11 rounds, 9:00 am to about 5:15 pm (8 hr 15 min). Each team plays 6 and works 3.
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 | ||||||
| Team 6 | ||||||
| Team 7 |
Names and scores are saved in this browser.
Each round has two matches: four teams play, two work, and one team rests. That spare team is what makes seven work well on two courts. Everyone gets a break and the work duty splits exactly three each.
Eleven rounds is still a long day, a little over 8 hours at 45 minutes a match. Two pools (3 and 4) with crossovers take 8 rounds, but each team plays fewer pool matches.
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.
Eleven: ten rounds with two matches and a last round with one.
Yes. Twenty-one matches split into exactly three work duties for each of the seven teams.
One pool gives everyone six matches and a fair ranking. Two pools (4 and 3) give three or two matches each but finish hours earlier, leaving time for crossovers and a final.