Here's a guide to volleyball etiquette from the Chicago Sun Times:

The game's etiquette

But if you are patient -- and can take a little rejection -- you should be able to find a net to play on out of the hundreds that line our beaches. Please remember, though, that beach volleyball is a polite sport with a highly defined sense of decorum among its serious players. The sand and the poles might be open to all, other equipment is someone's personal property, so it's considered poor form to run on a court and start playing without asking the players who have it if it's OK.

Don't be offended if one of the players asks you to "pepper" before allowing you to play. The "bump test" is considered a rite of passage and it takes only a few passes and sets for an experienced player to tell whether you have enough ball control to compete in the group.

Once you are in a game, it's proper to call out the score every time you serve. Extended vocal arguments over whether a ball was in or out is reserved for the group of testosterone-laden teen-aged boys playing 6s with an indoor ball a couple rows down and hanging on the net every other point. Any dispute is settled simply by replaying the point, which is indicated by holding two thumbs up.

If you hear the call "ball on," from one of the players in your game, stop playing immediately because a loose ball has found your court and a broken ankle is waiting to happen. Give "a little help" to players on other courts when their ball comes on yours and they are more than likely to reciprocate. And stay out of the net, any touch of which is a violation. If you touch the net, fess up immediately, because volleyball players are honorable folks.