INDIANAPOLIS---Pending final approval, increasing the number of substitutions from 12 to 15 per game was the most significant action taken by the NCAA Volleyball Rules Committee during its annual meeting January 25-28, in Indianapolis.

“This has been a discussion item for the rules committee since its inception four years ago,” Debbie Hendricks, committee chair and head volleyball coach at Metropolitan State College of Denver, said.  “When weighing all of the pros and cons, we really were most concerned by a team’s inability to have enough substitutes to run the 6-2 offense in a longer game.”

Many coaches responding to the rules survey said they believed the increase in the number of substitutions per game would allow for more student-athletes to have the opportunity to play and for greater individual specialization.  Both of which were seen as cons for other coaches.

The increase in substitutions and all other rules changes made by the committee will be reviewed by the Playing Rules Oversight Panel (PROP) February 23.  Rules changes approved by PROP will be instituted into the 2005 rules book.  Any rules changes flagged by PROP will be reviewed by the NCAA governance structure and will not be part of the 2005 rules.

A minimum overhead clearance, which had not previously been addressed in the rules book, will be added.  It will be 25 feet above the court which is the same as required by the Men’s and Women’s Basketball Rules.  This rule will be listed as administrative and may be changed by the mutual consent of the institutions.

Another facility requirement will be for the attack line to be extended beyond the court-boundary line starting in 2006.  The interrupted line, which can be added with tape, will be highly recommended in 2005.

It was discovered during the annual meeting that the conversion noted in the ball specifications in the rules book are incorrect, and the tolerance for the diameter of the volleyball should be between 25.6 to 26.4 inches, which is less than the 25 ½ to 27 inches currently listed in the rules.  Ball manufacturers will be given until the 2007 season to comply with the correct diameter conversion.

The exception that allows a back row setter in the attack zone to set a ball that is completely above the height of the net toward a teammate without being at risk for committing an attack fault is being removed.  If, in this situation, that ball is then contacted legally by an opponent, the setter has committed a back-row attack fault.

“This eliminates one of the options that a referee must consider in this difficult situation,” Marcia Alterman, the committee’s secretary-rules editor and national rules interpreter, said.  “The referee has to process a lot of information instantaneously, and one less possible outcome will allow referees to apply the rules more consistently.  We were asking referees to decide if the setter was sending the ball in the direction of a teammate even though it only traveled a few inches, and we try to avoid making intent-based calls in the rules.”

During a team’s exclusive warm-up period, the opposing team will no longer be able to warm up behind or adjacent to the court.  This is to reduce safety concerns from errant balls that may result from the opponent warming up so closely.

To help answer uniform questions, the committee will list provisions on the use of memorial patches.  This was not covered in previous editions.  The patch must not obstruct the player’s number.  If numerals are included in the patch, they should not be larger than one inch within the logo or patch to avoid confusion.

The following changes also were approved by the committee:

- The words, “scheduled match time,” will be removed from these rules to allow for the referee to determine the start time.  If the officiating crew or the facility is not available at the schedule match time, this gives the referee the authority to make decisions.  The committee also voted to make this an administrative rule, which allows for coaches to mutually agree on how to move forward in this situation.

- If a team arrives late to a match without prior notice, and at least one game is forfeited, the warm up period for any subsequent games will be the remainder of the 10-minute interval that started with the forfeit.  Each team will be allowed one-half of that warm-up period for exclusive use of the court.  This situation was not previously covered in the rules book.

-If both coaches agree, the shared court portion of the warm-up period may be reduced from 41 minutes to 10 minutes for a combined event (for example, a volleyball match preceded by a non-volleyball event).  This gives the coaches flexibility in the pregame protocol, if desired.

- When points are removed because of a position fault or wrong server, any timeouts taken by the team at fault during that span of points will not be removed.  The committee did not think it was fair that the team that was at fault would lose a charged timeout.

-A team delay sanction will only be assessed if the referee deems that a delay occurred when a substitution request is granted but the substitution is not completed.

- A player who attacks a served ball while the ball is completely above the height of the net is only illegal if the ball is in the front zone.  This aligns with the USA Volleyball and International rules and should not have a major impact on play.

- A tournament protest committee will only be used to determine the outcome of a protest if advancement relies on the outcome of the protest.  Many tournaments are now round robins and the outcome of the protest does not affect the schedule or match ups.  In these situations, the protest procedure for a single-match event will be used.

- A protest filed by a team that loses the protested game but wins the match will now be considered.  If the protest is upheld for the game that was lost, the games won and lost by each team will be adjusted as if that game did not happen.  The loss of a game affects the statistics and cumulative record of a team and should be adjusted if the protest is upheld.

- The second referee is now allowed to stop play with the whistle if he or she clearly sees the ball hit the floor and the first referee is unable to make that determination.  This aligns with USA Volleyball and International rules.