Who uses the whistle in volleyball?

Answer 1

Whistles are used in volleyball, like most sports in two different situations. The most important is when officials use whistles during match play to control the match. The whistle is used to signal that an official has a signal that all players, coaches and other officials should see regarding the match. In volleyball, the two most important times are to signal the beginning of a play with the beckon to serve signal and after the play with the award of service signal (i.e. the team that won the rally, the point and the next service or if the play was game point, the victory.) But officials who are not the R1 (the "up ref") also use the whistle to signal faults that the R1 may not have a clear view or were screened. Some faults are also called by officials like the scorekeeper when the wrong player serves.

Other times for the whistle are the start of the match and the conclusion of the match which precede the march-in and shake-hands signals repsecitvely.

Simply put, with the lone exception of the beckon-to-serve signal, all time the whistle is blown, all play should stop. In all cases, the whistle precedes one or more signals. So one could think of the whistle as a command from an official to "look at me, I have something important to signal!"

The other time whistles are involved in volleyball, is when a coach is using it in practice or warm-ups to communicate information or to draw attention from her or his players. Not all coaches use whistles, so this may or may not be present in any given player's experience.

Answer 2

Usually the two people with whistles are the first and second referees.