New rule changes receive mixed reactions
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Erik Boal
The National Federation of State High School Assns. was busy
revising a number of volleyball rules during the offseason, and the
changes have created a whirlwind of mixed emotions among local
coaches.
In January, the NFHS Volleyball Rules Committee concluded more
than five years of discussion by approving the use of the
rally-scoring format, which the California Interscholastic Federation
immediately adopted to take effect statewide for the 2003-04 school
year for contests at all levels.
And while many of the aforementioned coaches -- including
Crescenta Valley High’s Jennifer Ryan, who sits on the CIF Southern
Section Division I girls’ advisory committee -- felt the changes made
by the NFHS were inevitable in an attempt to create a similar
atmosphere to the club and college level, Ryan, along with some of
her peers, thinks the rule revisions take away some of the purity of
the high school game.
“I thought it was an inevitable move because there was a lot of
pressure from the club and college levels to make it happen. But I
think it does a disservice to high school volleyball, because
that’s your training ground,” said Ryan, who has served on the
advisory committee for five years.
“But it was bound to happen, so you just have to move on.”
The rally-scoring format -- in which points are awarded on each
play, regardless of which team is serving, versus the old sideout
system in which a squad could only score on its own serve -- had only
been previously used in the deciding (fifth) games of CIF playoff
matches, as well as by selected leagues in the deciding game of a
league contest.
Even a handful of tournament organizers adopted the format in an
attempt to create a more user-friendly schedule.
But when CIF Southern Section girls’ volleyball teams begin
regular-season competition in less than two weeks, gone will be the
days of sideout scoring and the first team to reach 15 points,
winning by two.
Instead, a faster-paced, best-of-five match, where the first four
games are played to 25 (no cap) and the deciding game is played to 15
(no cap) will now be the norm.
And several local squads got a sneak preview of how the new format
would affect the game during summer league competition.
“The players want a faster-paced game and rally scoring does
that,” said Cynthia Doyle, NFHS assistant director and a liaison to
the volleyball rules committee.
“It is felt that one of the positives in the introduction of rally
scoring is it will generate more spectator interest.”
*
According to data gathered from the NFHS, an average three-game
match played by rally-scoring rules takes approximately one hour and
a five-game contest approximately 90 minutes. Some five-game matches
played by local squads last year took more than two hours to
complete.
But spectator interest aside, coaches have four main points of
contention, some having to do with rally scoring, and others
surrounding additional rule changes made by the Volleyball Rules
Committee.
In past years, teams were allowed two timeouts per game with a
third being granted to each squad if the game progressed to a 14-14
tie.
Under the new rules, each squad gets only two timeouts per game.
But the revisions garnering the most attention are the new “let
serve”, “multiple contact” and “unsportsmanlike conduct” rules.
The “let serve” is a ball that, when served, hits the net without
touching the antenna and continues across into the opponent’s court.
In the past, such a serve would result in a sideout for the other
team, but in an effort to keep the flow of the game moving with
fewer interruptions, the “let serve” is now a live, playable ball.
“It’s going to impact the game quite a bit,” said Glendale Coach
Michelle Capozzoli, who was an All-CIF selection for the Nitros
before going on to play at Washington State University.
“You have the girls in a pattern to do it one way and now it’s
another way.”
There has also been quite a buzz about the “unsportsmanlike
conduct” rule, which, if enforced, allows officials to penalize a
coach with a yellow card if they feel they are “disrespectfully
addressing their own players” during the course of a match.
Although coaches understand the Volleyball Rules Committee’s
intentions, they believe the rule is subject to various
interpretations by officials, which could result in a source of
controversy throughout the season.
“Everything’s going to be new for a lot of the referees, too,”
Ryan said.
But without a doubt, the change that has generated the most
response has to do with the “multiple contact” rule, which permits a
player to use multiple contact when receiving a ball “on any first
team hit, whether or not the ball is touched by the block.”
So what was once considered a “double hit” or “lift” infraction
has now been recognized as a legal play, as long as it is on the
first ball received, which usually occurs above the head.
“I don’t mind the rally scoring because I think it makes for a
little more exciting game. But I don’t like the double contacts
being allowed because it doesn’t allow the kids to learn the basics
of volleyball,” Flintridge Prep Coach Sean Beattie sad.
“Overall, they had to [implement rally scoring] because it’s the
next logical progression and because so many of the kids were playing
club. But allowing the double contacts is almost like taking the
passing out of volleyball.”
Said Capozzoli: “You teach them the right way for so long and now
it’s going back to the wrong way. It’s almost like going back to your
first year of coaching.”
Added Hoover Coach Deb Cohen: “I really think it’s taking away
from the skill you need to play the game.”
*
But for Beattie’s mixed reviews and Capozzoli, Cohen and Ryan’s
disappointment with the changes, the new rules do have one proponent
in La Canada Coach Ted Grissom.
“I love what’s going on in terms of the changes. It’s a
progression that had to happen and it just happened to be now,” said
Grissom, who officiates Pacific-10 Conference volleyball matches in
his spare time.
“That’s all they’re playing right now and I like it because it
keeps the game going. I even wish we had the libero.”
Grissom and Ryan believe installing the libero -- a designated
back-row player that is allowed to replace any player in the back
row without counting as a substitution -- probably won’t come until
the 2005 season, although there are motions in place to have the
position implemented next year.
Until then, the coaches and the players, whether they like it or
not, will have to learn how to adjust to the current system.