Although the switch from side-out to rally scoring was not approved by the NFHS Volleyball Rules Committee at its meeting , a number of states are expected to experiment with rally scoring rules during the 2002-03 season.

“More than the actual concept of rally scoring versus side-out scoring, the committee did not have enough data with regard to the various possible ways to conduct matches in the rally scoring system,” said Cynthia Doyle, NFHS assistant director and liaison to the Volleyball Rules Committee. “With some states experimenting with rally scoring next year, the committee should have useful information to make a decision based on the needs and skill level of high school athletes in school programs.

“The philosophy behind the use of rally scoring is to encourage constant action and few interruptions by increasing the number of critical plays, while bracketing the time frame of the game,” Doyle added. “The ‘net serve’ and faster substitution process are two elements of the faster game.”

The Volleyball Rules Committee has requested that any state associations desiring to experiment with rally scoring in 2002-03 utilize the following guidelines:

The home team selects home court; the winner of the toss may elect to serve or receive.

The net serve should be included, and the number of net serves per game should be record ed.

All matches should be best three-of-five games.

Games should be played to 25 points (30-point cap), and the fifth and deciding game should be played to 15 points, with a win by two points.

The starting and ending times, as well as the score, should be recorded for each regular-season conference game.

Substitutions should be limited to 18 team substitutions per game.

The “libero” player concept shall not be used.

Tournament and pool play will be at the discretion of the state association and/or host school.

Seven rules changes were approved by the Volleyball Rules Committee at its recent meeting, including Rule 7-1-2, which addresses proper submission of the lineup. Two minutes prior to the end of the pre-match warm-up, a coach from each team shall submit to the scorer an accurate, written lineup of the uniform numbers of the six players in the floor positions they will occupy at the start of the game. Previously, the first server was determined by circling that player’s number.

Doyle said the wording of this rule was changed because the intent is that the position of the players on the floor as submitted on the written line-up indicates the serving order.

In Rule 9-5-2, a back-row player shall not be called for a foul or a penalty until the ball has completely crossed the net or is legally blocked by the opponent. The ball is considered to have crossed the net when it has passed beyond the vertical plane of the net or is legally blocked.

An addition was made to Rule 12-2-5b to note that when a coach requests a review of the score, or verifies the number of time-outs used or the serving order of his or her team during a dead-ball, that request should be made to the umpire.

Two changes were made in Rule 5-5 regarding responsibilities of scorers. The official scorer should notify the umpire when a team has used its 15th, 16th, 17th and 18th substitutions, as well as when a team reaches game point.

The final two changes involve player equipment and uniforms. As with other NFHS rules books, a note will be added to Rule 4 stating that prior to the match, officials shall meet with the head coaches and captains to discuss sportsmanship expectations. At this meeting, coaches shall verify that all their players are wearing legal uniforms and equipment.

Rule 4-1-7 now states that players shall not wear body paint or glitter on their hair, face, uniform or body. Doyle said this addition to the rules supports the interpretation given to officials, but which was not supported in the rules book or case book.

In terms of participants, volleyball is the third-most popular sport for girls with 390,814 participants, according to the 2000-01 High School Athletics Participation Survey conducted by the NFHS. Girls volleyball is also ranked third in terms of number of schools with 13,761. In addition, 39,768 boys participated in volleyball in 2000-01 in 1,716 high schools.