The Division III Women’s Tennis Committee has recommended modifications to two rules that, if approved by the Playing Rules Oversight Panel, could go into effect as soon as next season.

Also, the men’s committee approved a change in dates of competition for its championships.

The two committees met July 10-13 in Indianapolis.

The women’s committee voted to modify the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s carry-over rule. Pending approval, beginning next year, the carry-over rule will be enforced during the entire championships period, and penalties accumulated by an individual player will be carried over to that player’s next match.

At the finals, team and individual championships will be considered as separate events; consequently, penalties accrued by a player during team competition will be applied only during the team competition. The penalty ends when the team portion of the tournament ends. In the case of a student-athlete who qualify for singles and doubles team events, any accumulated penalties during the individual events will follow that individual throughout those competitions.

The proposed modification contrasts with a recommendation being forwarded by the Division I men’s and women’s committees on the same ITA rule, which advocates that any penalties accumulated would follow the team, not a specific individual. However, the Division III women’s committee felt that one player’s infraction should not affect another player. If the recommendation is approved by PROP, it would go into effect for the 2007 championships.

The women’s committee also voted to prohibit players from being moved down in the lineup due to injuries that force them to miss less than three weeks; disciplinary measures; or challenge matches played after six team matches have been played after January 1 or challenge matches played during the last 50 percent of a team’s playing dates. That recommendation also requires approval from PROP and could go into effect in 2007.

In addition, the committee plans to implement a protest period beginning with the 2007 championships. Once team lineups are posted on www.ncaa.org by 5 p.m. on the day of selections (Monday), protests with accompanying rationales will be accepted at the national office until 2 p.m. the following day. The committee will review documentation and respond by noon Wednesday.

Committee members also encouraged coaches to respond to a directive from the Management Council’s playing and practice seasons subcommittee to more clearly define the sport’s playing and practice seasons. Currently, the season is limited to 19 weeks overall; however, each institution decides when its traditional and nontraditional seasons occur during that time. The committee will review feedback and formulate a response for the subcommittee’s October meeting.

The women’s committee also redefined "late-season play" as the win-loss percentage in the last 50 percent of a team’s or individual’s season. Previously, only the last 25 percent of matches were considered. The adjustment aligns with the interpretation in men’s tennis. The change also provides the committee with more information during selections since for some squads, 25 percent of late-season matches may include only conference-championship play and may not accurately indicate a team’s strength of schedule.

Both the men’s and women’s committees are recommending a change in the days of competition for the championships to the Division III Championships Committee. The committees want to change the Wednesday-through-Monday competition to Tuesday through Sunday.

The change should reduce conflicts with Sunday competitions and will allow more spectators to see the individual portion of the tournament, conducted on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Committee members also conducted a mock draw using the automatic-qualifier model that will take effect in 2007. The committee used the results from the 2005-06 season. The mock draw allowed both committees to become accustomed to the process.

• Voted to move the joint championships scheduled for the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing, New York, from 2007 to 2008. The change is warranted since construction of an on-site indoor-court facility is expected to be completed by June 2007. The committees believe it is in the best interests of the student-athletes and coaches to delay the championships when on-site indoor courts are available in the event of inclement weather.
• Noted that the University of Mary Washington (the 2008 host for the women’s tennis championships) agreed to host the women’s championships in 2007 as well. The men’s committee will solicit bids immediately.
• The women’s committee recommended Amy Bryant, head coach at Emory University, as chair to replace Kathy Campbell of Vassar.
• The men’s committee recommended that all eligible conferences receive automatic bids to the 2007 championship. Pool A will have 27 teams; Pool B will have eight teams and six teams will be included from Pool C.
• The men’s committee also reconfirmed the change from a seven-point system to a nine-point system. A survey with a 60 percent response rate revealed that coaches overwhelmingly prefer the nine-point system for both genders for the 2007 championship.