On Feb. 20, the NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel passed two new rules that will directly alter gameplay next fall.
The first change is the elimination of double contacts being ruled as faults, while the other rule tweak concerns the addition of a second libero designated in each set of a match.
Until now, when players went to set the ball (passing it with both hands to a hitter who is then tasked with swinging to advance the ball over the net), they were at risk of being called for a double violation, a judgment call that rewarded the opposing team the point if the set had too much spin.
Too much spin signifies that the player’s hands contacted the ball at two separate times, and until now, this garnered a double contact call that would have the play whistled dead. If the ball does not leave the player’s hands cleanly, it is a sign that the set will be off target due to the lessened control when contacting the ball at different times.
“There’s never an advantage to mishandling a ball… when you double it, it doesn’t go where you want it to go. It doesn’t travel like you want it to,” said Marist volleyball head coach Sean Byron.
This particular rule has been a point of discussion for years now at all levels of volleyball, but collegiate athletes will no longer have to worry about it being called.
“I know they’ve been talking about it but I never thought they would [pass it] because I feel like it’s such an important thing, especially for my position,” said junior setter Claire Lewis.
Setters use their hands nearly every time the ball is on their side of the net and have been trained from a young age to avoid double contact. Yet with the new rules, it is no longer a thought.
“I think it’s going to improve the setting actually, long term because you’ll have more kids that’ll set instead of kids that are afraid to set because they don’t want to get a double called,” said Byron.
The removal of the double contact does not only impact setters; liberos also benefit from the rule change. When setters take the first contact, liberos are primarily tasked with getting the ball to an attacker to swing for a kill, the main form of offense in volleyball. Now, they have more freedom to use their hands to do so.
“I saw when there was something about [the Oversight Panel] voting on it and I thought, ‘There’s no way they’re going to pass it,’” said freshman libero Katherine Thompson.
While the new double contact rule will affect the action on the court, the two libero rule will impact strategy more than it does gameplay.
The role of libero is often designated to a team’s best passer. There are six rotations on a volleyball court, three in the front and three in the back. Once the libero reaches the front three rotations, they skip them, meaning they stay in the back row for the entire time they are on the floor. This allows them to be the captain of the back row, and they are expected to take charge to help keep every attack that gets past the blockers up off the floor.
Previously, teams could only dress one libero per set and had the option to switch who that one libero was between sets. If that designated libero were to struggle or suffer an injury during a set, teams could only replace her with an ordinary player, losing the privileges of a libero.
With two liberos suiting up per set, teams can now swap them in and out in certain situations that better fit each player, without having to use a sub.
“I think it can be beneficial for the team,” said Thompson. “When someone’s having a bad game, you can just switch things up.”
“If we have two people that are better in defense or serve receive, it allows us to switch it up faster than a normal sub and wasting a sub that way,” Lewis added.
This rule change has the potential to benefit certain players; for schools with a star libero in place, other defensive specialists are at risk of rarely seeing the floor throughout their college careers. The ability to dress an extra libero leads to more opportunities for more playing time, giving certain players more of a chance to prove themselves.
The rule changes have hardly impacted Marist volleyball’s approach at practice so far, with the only mentions of the rule changes coming in a humorous context.
“It’s been a running joke because the middles usually stay out of the way of the setter because they will double but now they’re like, ‘I’m gonna be a setter now’,” said Lewis. “But nothing serious.”
“Me and KT [Thompson] were like ‘Great, now we can double’,” added freshman libero freshman libero Claudia Kasperski.
The two liberos even posted a TikTok reflecting the team’s jokes, specifically poking fun at the elimination of the double contact call.
The video posted on Thompson’s account has already amassed nearly three million views and totaled over 150,000 likes.
“It was just for fun… because that’s what we’ve been joking about,” said Kasperski.
The rule changes may not seem too meaningful at first glance, but will help make for more enticing gameplay and interesting action. These new rules won’t apply until August when Marist kicks off their next campaign.
Edited by Luke Sassa
Photo from Jaylen Rizzo
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