attacking and overset

Question
Could you please clear up some confusion that some friends of mine and I debate all the time - it seems to be one of those interpreted rules that is generally left up to the referee...but in club league we self ref and differ on the subject.
The issue is: When a setter "hand sets" (cleanly) a ball tight to the net that drifts over the net due to the wind. At which point is the offensive attacker's touch illegal?
as soon as the ball crosses the plane of the net or is there a neutral zone of one ball length either side of the net that the attacker is allowed to penetrate? FIVB rule 17.1.3 does not clearly define the term "playing space"
and is the rule different for indoor vs outdoor.
Thanks in advance for your time.
Tom

Answer
Tom-
 Two good rules of thumb to keep in mind is that whomever is on offense is the protected party of that neutral zone you were referring to.  Take that a step further and determine where the ball is on the court(Rule of thumb #2).  If it's in the neutral zone, it's still the property of the offense.  Therefore, the hitter can make first contact.  If you can always answer those two quesitons at all times, there should be no issue as to who can contact first.  Again, the neutral zone is where your jousts occur, what often happens when both hitter and blocker make contact at the same time.  The up ref will then decide who is awarded the point should the ball fall out of bounds.  To take your question a step further, should the set drift entirely over the net to the defense...they are now the offense, (Hence our second rule of thumb).  And remember what we said...the offense runs the show.  They have the rights to contact.  Meaning?  Your hitter from the drifted set is now the blocker, and can NOT reach OVER the net to interupt the newly apointed offense.  In summary, first decide where the ball is.  If you can clearly see the ball on one particular side of the net...that side is the offense, and can contact at liberty.  

I hope this helps, if I dirtied the waters too much...shoot me back and I'll try a different approach.  Take care and have fun playing!

Matt