New rules alter
NCAA volleyball
By Paul Trembacki
Sports
Editor
Welcome to a new era of college volleyball.
Last spring the NCAA rules committee decided on
some new rules to drastically alter women's college volleyball across
the nation, and the rule changes have the Purdue volleyball team excited
about the upcoming season.
The biggest change will be the transition to rally
scoring, which eliminates side-outs from every game of every match.
This means that every time the ball hits the floor, a point, not just
possession of the serve, is awarded.
Rally scoring was previously only used in decisive
fifth games to add more excitement to the do-or-die scenario.
"A lot of people think it’s cheap, but I think
it’ll make it more exciting for the fans, and that what it’s
really about," Purdue senior Christy Case said.
Purdue excelled in games that used rally scoring
the last two seasons, winning four of five such games last season and
six of eight in 1999.
"We’ve never feared rally scoring,"
third-year coach Jeff Hulsmeyer said. "I like the sense of urgency
it brings to the game, and I think fans’ll enjoy it.
"We just can’t make any stupid errors
because every error will be highlighted by a point."
Instead of playing until 15 points each game, teams
will play until 30. However, decisive fifth games in the best-of-five
matches will go until one team reaches 15.
Still, Hulsmeyer estimates that the rally scoring
will take at least a half an hour, or as many as two hours, off the
length of each match.
Service errors are likely to decline thanks to
a new rule that states that the serve is live even if it hits the top
of the net. Before this year, a serve that hit the net was regarded
as an error.
Hulsmeyer said the new rule might surprise many
long-time fans but not his team. Purdue players have been working on
reacting to balls that skim the net in practice. The rule change benefits
teams that have trouble getting the ball just over the net; however,
Purdue has not had much of a problem with service errors in recent years.
Two other amendments have been made to the serving
process. Players will no longer be able to "re-toss" if they
fail to make contact on a jump serve, and the allotted time to serve
after the referee gives the OK has been increased from five seconds
to eight.
There are several minor, yet visible, changes to
go with the major ones. Volleyballs no longer have to be completely
white. They can be just about any color, as long as at least one third
is still white.
Purdue doesn’t plan to take advantage of this
option yet.
Another color change involves the court but works
the same way. Courts no longer have to be completely white or wood-colored
inside the lines. One third must remain white or wood-colored though.
Hulsmeyer said the only time Purdue might repaint its court would be
if the Boilers were to host a game in the NCAA tournament, in which
case they would go with a black, gold and white motif.
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