Bulgarian national player Viktoria Ninova attracted attention with an interesting detail from her performance in the American university championship. The U19 world champion plays as a libero for Cincinnati, but in addition to saved balls in defense, she also stands out with direct points from... serves.
In the 2:3 (17:25, 25:23, 20:25, 25:8, 12:15) loss to Colorado, Ninova recorded 15 saved balls in defense and two aces. The Bulgarian performed a total of 26 serves, making two errors.
The statistics seem unusual for European volleyball, where the libero is not allowed to serve. In the USA, however, a different rule applies, which allows exactly that.
According to the official NCAA rules for the 2026 and 2027 seasons, the libero can serve in one of the six rotations. Rule 12.1.2.3 allows them to replace the player in position #1, and when using two liberos, the right to serve remains limited to one rotation.
Thus, American university volleyball provides an additional tactical opportunity for coaches, who can use the qualities of their defenders also in serving.
FIVB discussed a similar change, but it did not reach official tests.
As early as February, VolleyWeek reported on planned experimental changes in international volleyball, among which was the possibility for the libero to serve instead of a designated player.
On February 17, FIVB acknowledged the existence of preliminary materials related to potential rule changes, but emphasized that the ideas discussed did not represent official decisions.
Ten days later, the Administrative Council of the international federation approved a package of experimental rules for the 2026 season, including increasing the allowed substitutions from six to eight in a game.
However, the proposal for the libero to be granted the right to serve was not included among the approved tests. FIVB did not publicly state the specific reasons why this proposal remained outside the package.
In the current international rules for the period 2025–2028, the prohibition remains categorical. Rule 19.3.1.3 does not allow the libero to serve, block, or attempt to block.
A curious contrast emerges. Viktoria Ninova can score points directly from serves for her university team in the USA, but she is not allowed to use the same skill as a libero in the Bulgarian national team.
And her performance shows that this possibility is far from merely theoretical.

collage: volleyweek from gobearcats website