During serve, when are players free to move?

Question
At what exact point can the defending team move into their desired formation?  Is it when the server contacts the ball or is it when the server releases the ball for the toss?  For example can the back row setter move to the front row as soon as the server tosses the ball for his/her jump serve?

Answer
Good morning and welcome to www.allexperts.com!

Your question can be answered with a few words:  Players on both sides of the net are free to move to a preferred position after the tossed ball has been CONTACTED by the server.  Moving earlier will result in what's called an overlap (NF rule book) or a positional fault (UVAV rule book).  

So for instance, let's say the team that's receiving serve has a girl in the middle front (the 3 position) who wants to hit an outside set, and a girl in the left front (the 4) who wants to hit a middle set.  Then as soon as the opponent CONTACTS her serve, they are free to cross each other and prepare for their attack.  

The fault is judged by where feet are on the floor.  Here is what the R2 is looking for:  In the example above, before the ball is contacted, neither of the 4-girl's feet may not be on the floor closer to the middle of the court than either of 3's feet.  And neither of the 3's feet may be closer to the left sideline than either of 4's feet.

Do you need to know more?  Do you need to know which girls can overlap and which cannot?  I'm saying, did you know that the 3-girl can ONLY overlap 2, 4 and 6.  Yep, that's correct.  She CANNOT overlap 5 or 1.  So if a ref ever looks at a coach and says, "You have a 3-5 overlap," the coach can answer, "That's impossible.  Three and five CAN'T overlap."  It's like calling a girl for traveling.  There is NO traveling call in volleyball.  It CANNOT be called.  It's impossible to call it, and it is similarly impossible to call an overlap on 3 and 5.  

I hope you have a great day!  And to make your day even better, haha, please visit me at www.coachhouser.com.  My staff and I directed 9 volleyball site camps last summer, and I've already started taking reservations for 2010.  On December 1, all remaining weeks that have not reserved by the 2009 hosts, will be available for any coach to grab up!  All I need is a $250 non-refundable deposit, and it's first-come, first-served.  

If you have any other questions, please ask.
Coach Houser