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QUESTION: I read in the NCAA Women’s volleyball rules that it is crucial to add all of the players correctly before the match because having to do it during the match is time-consuming. Is this true for VolleyWrite?

ANSWER: Because the rules for NCAA Women do not require a roster, you may encounter the situation where a player who is not currently displayed on the roster or bench enters the substitution zone. With VolleyWrite, after you have asked the R2 to bear with you, you simply click on the Add Player button and enter the player number. Once the player is on the bench, you click or drag them onto the court for the appropriate player. It could take about 10 seconds if you go slowly.

Yes! It is important to indicate which players are competing. Players not indicated as “present” will not appear on the team benches, so they cannot enter the court to play. VolleyWrite uses the “present” players to replace an ill/injured, expelled or disqualified player, so if the list of players present is not correct, VolleyWrite will not determine the correct action.

Most high schools do follow the NFHS Rules Book guidelines in which the freshman and JV teams play best of 3 sets with a deciding set to 25 points, and the varsity match is best of 5 sets with a deciding set to 15 points (with each team maintaining its side of the court throughout the deciding set).

VolleyWrite handles the situation where the match ends early, as may be the case if JV rules are used for a varsity match. When a match ends, the Match Over dialog appears. Underneath the results, you have two options to make the match not be over: the green Undo Last Action button (use if you awarded the last point to the wrong team) and the blue Change Rules to Continue Play button. Using the Change Rules to Continue Play button, you can change the number of sets in the match to 5 and the number of points in the deciding set to 15.

If your match was supposed to end and didn’t, go to the Rules tab and open the Set Play page. Indicate the correct number of sets in the match and the correct number of points in the deciding and non-deciding sets.  When you go back to the Set tab, you will see the correct indicators (end of set/match) and you will have to verify the scoresheet (if required) and save the match.

(FYI – When you increase the number of sets in the match, VolleyWrite knows that the set in progress is now a non-deciding set, so it knows that the set should end at the value indicated in the Points per Non-deciding Set field on the Rules tab.)

When you use the INJURY button on the Set tab, VolleyWrite presents your options for filling the position on the court if the player cannot continue playing. VolleyWrite checks first for a legal substitution, and if there is none, an exceptional substitution is considered.

Also, if an illegal substitution is attempted using drag-and-drop (Windows-based version only) or clicking action, VolleyWrite clarifies whether this is an attempt to substitute illegally or an injury situation. Either a penalty is processed or the Injury dialog handles it as mentioned above.

Once the information is entered, VolleyWrite updates the court display and the score sheet appropriately. An exceptionally substituted player is indicated on the bench in red and is not allowed to re-enter the set (or possibly the match, depending on the situation and rules).

It is easier to track a libero using VolleyWrite than on paper! You can enter libero replacements with two clicks of your mouse.

VolleyWrite automatically replaces the libero when they rotate to the front row and gets confirmation that the correct player in position 4 (left front). If the wrong player entered the court, VolleyWrite knows the correct penalty.

VolleyWrite only allows the libero to serve in one service position and checks to be sure the libero sits out a completed rally between replacements unless they are serving in the next service position (or in the case of illness/injury).

VolleyWrite fills out the libero tracking sheet for you neatly and in the correct notation.

Once the first set of a match has begun, VolleyWrite does not let you edit some of the fields on the Rules tab. You may NOT change the following after the first set of a match has begun:

• whether player numbers are required
• captain tracking
• the number of liberos or how they are designated

You can change many of the other fields after the match has begun. For example, you can turn off captain tracking if it was previously turned on or play all 3 matches instead of the best of 3. VolleyWrite will not allow changes that do not make sense at the current state of the match.

The Reports tab contains a Participation report which indicates if players have met the minimum point requirement indicated on the Scoring Options page of the Rules tab. Once players have met the minimum, their entry on the Participation report is black. A player who has not met the minimum number of points played is displayed in red. The Participation Report can be automatically e-mailed at the end of the match to the league management.

This is one of the most common scoring errors in instructional volleyball!  When a team serves the maximum number of serves and wins the rally on their last serve, that team is entitled to that rally point.  The opponent should just get the serve and rotate their players, without a point being awarded (since they did nothing to deserve a point).  VolleyWrite awards the rally point to the serving team, then indicates that the serve is transferred to the opposing team by highlighting the service position of the opponent on the Set tab and rotating their players on the display.

VolleyWrite is also very useful at the instructional level because it incorporates the serve count on the external display for the coaches and officials.