On Feb. 20th, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) approved double contacts by setters in women’s college volleyball. According to NCAA.org, the Playing Rules Oversight Panel has now established the allowance of players to make contact with the ball more than once with any part of their body in a single attempt on a team’s second contact when the ball is played to a teammate. This means that setters can double balls and are no longer under the strict rule of not having the ball spin.
A setter’s position in volleyball sparks controversy and debate in reffing because of the difficulty of defining whether a ball had been doubled or not. With this new rule being imposed, volleyball games are thought to become more cohesive.
Although this new rule will not affect volleyball here at Redwood, it will have an impact on students who want to pursue a volleyball career. According to senior Kate Sicklick, a volleyball player of five years and member of the girls’ varsity volleyball team, the rule is focused more on the referees than on the player.
“This call was highly controversial for the referees. It’s not like it was a highly controversial call for the kid. Most of the time, if you’re a setter and you double the ball, you know. It feels different,” Sicklick said.
Officiating whether or not a ball had been doubled during a match sparks disagreements between players and referees. A rule like this can dismiss those arguments and create a stronger flow throughout the match.
Although this new rule has been established, Sicklick believes that setters will continue to set balls the traditional way, as they have been trained to do it their entire volleyball career.
“Math and physics-wise, it’s harder to hit a spinning ball out of the air. If you ask anyone who plays [setter], they’d say, ‘No, I’d rather have a floating set,’” Sicklick said.
Freshman Katie Lazzareschi, Redwood’s varsity volleyball setter, also agrees that the new rule imposed can be irritating for setters after intense training.
“It’s just kind of annoying because setters train to get a really good touch of the ball so that the contact comes out clean,” Lazzareschi said.
Overall, the new double contact rule in women’s college volleyball is deemed to have little to no effect on setters and their teammates as they will most likely continue to maintain the criteria of a “perfect” set due to all of their hard training. Yet, the establishment of the rule has left setters displeased considering how hard they worked to master the perfect set.
