The NCAA News - News and Features

The NCAA News -- March 1, 1999

Women's volleyball panel studies substitution rule, site selection

Teams participating in the 1999 Division II Women's Volleyball Championship will be allowed 18 team substitutions as a result of the Division II Women's Volleyball Committee adopting an experimental rule from the National Association of Girls and Women in Sports Rules book.

The change, which is an increase from the former limit of 15 team substitutions, came during the committee's annual meeting in Kansas City, Missouri, February 9-12.

The committee also reviewed site-selection criteria during the meeting, particularly in light of actions taken at the 1999 NCAA Convention. Since Division II delegates voted to eliminate the geographic-proximity restrictions when selecting regional tournament sites, the committee will recommend new criteria for selecting the host to the Division II Championships Committee.

The highest seed will host, provided it meets the necessary facilities and accommodations standards, and meets the guaranteed minimum of $2,000 in net receipts. Additionally, the host must assure practice and match scheduling will take priority over other events at times approved by the committee. It also must confirm available housing for participants, officials and NCAA representatives within a reasonable distance of the site.

The action will be considered by the Championships Committee during a March conference call.

In other actions, the committee voted to delay the first Division II poll by one week in 1999 to avoid penalizing a squad that travels outside its region in the first regional ranking. The first published ranking will be released September 22. The committee also evaluated its selection criteria and determined that a rating-percentage index was not necessary at this time because the current system the committee uses is effective.

The committee also reviewed options regarding match scoring, but took no formal action for the 1999 championship. The committee reiterated, however, that institutions are encouraged to continue experiments with the various scoring formats this spring. The committee will survey coaches for input next fall.

The committee also voted to change prematch protocol. The national anthem and player introductions will begin at the scheduled start of the match rather than eight minutes before.