Lesson 3: How Scoring Works

Roundnet uses rally scoring, which means a point is awarded on every single rally — no matter which team served.

Winning a game:

• Standard games are played to 21 points
• Tournaments may also use games to 11 or 15 points
• A team must win by 2 points
• If the score reaches 20-20, play continues until one team leads by two
• Some tournament formats cap the game (for example, first to 25 wins regardless of margin)

Matches are typically best of 3 or best of 5 games.

You score a point when your opponents:

• Fail to return the ball to the net within their allowed touches
• Hit the rim instead of the net
• Let the ball hit the ground
• Miss the net entirely
• Commit a fault

Because every rally produces a point, the score moves quickly. This keeps the game exciting and means no rally is ever "wasted" — both teams are always competing for something.