The Division I Women's Volleyball Committee believes now is the time to make changes that can spur growth in the sport. And at its February meeting in Indianapolis, members discussed significant modifications to the championship format as a way of accomplishing that goal.

Discussions centered on altering the tournament from a three-week to a two-week event. There would still be six rounds of competition, but the tweak would involve placing teams into eight, eight-team regional sites followed by an eight-team final.

Selections would be on Thanksgiving weekend, and the committee would continue to seed the top 16 teams. The remaining 48 teams would be placed in the bracket using the current policies of geographic proximity, separate conference opponents in the first and second rounds and keeping teams within two time zones, if possible.

The regionals, which would consist of rounds one through three of the tournament, would take place in the first week of December. The eight regional winners would advance to the national site the following week where the national quarterfinals, semifinals and final would be conducted.

Committee members believe the new format will create a better atmosphere for student-athletes because more teams would be at each site in the process. They agreed to forward the concept to the Division I Championships/Competition Cabinet for review at the cabinet's June meeting. If approved, the new format would go into effect as soon as possible after the 2005 championship.

But before it becomes an official recommendation, the women's volleyball committee s seeking feedback from the volleyball community.

"The best way to call attention to the urgency to what we think should happen is to put a format out there and get everyone's attention," said Julie Hermann, the chair of the volleyball committee. "The committee isn't looking for naysayers who don't offer other alternatives. The committee is looking for solution-finders. Somehow we've got to develop a format that will create energy around this championship at a high level."

More than 8,800 fans attended the 2004 four-team finals at Long Beach State University in December, and a national cable television audience joined in watching Stanford University defeat the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, for the national title. Capacity at the Long Beach Arena is 13,500.

"We'd like to see it be bigger, and we'd like to see it sold out," said Hermann, the senior woman administrator at the University of Louisville. "We'd like this to be a really hard ticket to get. Right now, it is not a hard ticket to get. How do we get true fans to come? True fans in volleyball are usually participants who have played at some time in the past. How do we make it more participant-oriented? It's a phenomenal sport for women."

Besides creating a more festive atmosphere, committee members cite other advantages to changing the format, including:

• Reduction of missed class time and "travel weariness" by reducing time on the road to two consecutive weekends instead of three.

• Providing additional teams the opportunity to advance to the championship round and have the championship experience.

• Predetermined sites provide a chance for greater promotion to enhance attendance and create regional rivalries.

• Combining the final three rounds of the tournament may provide television opportunities and create momentum leading into the championship match and increase attendance.

• Moving the championship up a week earlier reduces conflicts with class finals and holidays.

If the cabinet approves a new format for the championship, the committee would determine how to conduct the three rounds of competition at each site. One idea is to have an off day between the second and third rounds at the regionals and an off day between the semifinals and final.

"We don't want the students worn out," Hermann said. "A lot of people have expressed concern that if we create an off day we would lose momentum. If we went Friday, Saturday, Monday, we might lose momentum."

The current championship format provides first and second rounds at 16 campus sites. Those winners advance to four regionals the next weekend, followed by the finals a week later.

"We had tremendous television exposure this year with rounds four, five and six," Hermann said. "They all got television coverage. So the question now is how does round three get coverage? Well, the way you make round three get television coverage is to have those matches launch a team into the finals. The preliminary rounds have slowly lost attendance. Now, they suddenly become a lot more interesting."

The committee has sent the concept to senior woman administrators at Division I institutions and conferences that sponsor women's volleyball and has asked for feedback by April 1.