Rally Point and Vietnamese Women's Volleyball: 25 Points Decide Every Mistake

That evening, in the press box at Quan Ngua Arena, I couldn't take my eyes off the young woman wearing No. 17 for VTV Binh Dien Long An. The score was 24-24 in the third set. She – Nguyen Thi Bich Tuyen – stepped to the service line. The arena went silent enough for me to hear the volleyball thud against the floor. At 60, I still think of myself as that girl jumping up in the stands at Lach Tray, but in that moment all I could do was hold my breath. That is the beauty of the rally point system: every rally ends with a point. Before 2026, volleyball used side-out scoring – the serving team could score, and the receiving team, if it won the rally, only gained the serve. Matches could go on forever. But at the 2026 Sydney Olympics, FIVB switched to rally point: every rally scores, sets go to 25, and the fifth set is only to 15. A match now ends in under two hours. That change was not just numerical. It rewired tactics. In the third set, at 15-17, the coach of Thong Tin LienVietPostBank sent in the libero as a substitute for Doan Thi Xuan in the back row. The libero is a special role: free substitutions in the back row, but no serving, no blocking, and no attacking the ball fully above the net. They are defensive specialists, designed to hide passing weaknesses. But then a Bich Tuyen serve nicked the opponent's arm, the ball flew wide, and point 25 went to the home team. The set ended 25-17. Do you know that 25-17 is not an exception? According to a KeepTheScore survey of about 700 professional matches, only 8-9% of sets reach 24-24 (deuce). The average margin is eight points. That statistic makes me think: People say rally point creates drama. But in reality, most sets are not close. The drama lies elsewhere: a loss of focus, a service error at a pivotal moment can let an underdog rise up. Under side-out, such errors cost you the serve, not a point. Under rally point, you pay immediately with a point. So I believe the purpose of rally point is not to increase drama. FIVB wanted to control match time for broadcasters and create a faster pace. The 15-point final set is a risk-enhancing device: in a short set, the weaker team can become the winner if they start well. Look at Vietnamese women's volleyball. We don't have European bodies, but rally point opens a path for disciplined, intelligent play. Teams like VTV Binh Dien Long An and Thong Tin LienVietPostBank have built tactics around serves and passing. The libero became a key piece, covering imperfect first touches. The match at Quan Ngua eventually ended. VTV Binh Dien Long An won 3-1. Bich Tuyen smiled and waved at the stands. I left the arena with a pang of nostalgia. I remembered SEA Games 2026, when three former players sat at home recalling the final, and everyone felt they were there. More than 5,000 people watched the livestream of those three former players; I was no longer alone. At 60, I still chase the balls rolling on the floor with the eyes of a female sports journalist. Rally point has not killed the epic of volleyball; it has only changed how we define the decisive moment. A 17-year-old girl, in a 15-point set of a domestic tournament, will create a moment I will tell and then write down – with sweat, not ink.