This new rule change for college volleyball has sent players into a frenzy

On Tuesday, Feb. 20, the NCAA announced its new rule changes to be implemented for the upcoming 2024 women's volleyball season and beyond. The changes are as follows:

• Referees are now allowed to issue red cards to the home team in cases where spectators get too close to the play area and the home team does nothing to resolve the issue

• Interference above the net is now challengeable by video review

• All protests against referee decisions must now be resolved during the match in question

• Small, snug-fitting nose rings and ear cuffs have been added to the list of acceptable jewelry that can be worn during a match

• Each team is now allowed to designate two liberos for each set of the match. Only one libero would be allowed on the court at a time, and the libero would be allowed to serve in one position

• Players may now contact the ball more than once on any single attempt on a team's second contact so long as the ball is played to a teammate

That last rule change has some players upset. Why?

Well, the elimination of the double contact violation supposedly eliminates one of the key aspects to the setter position. There are players who had practiced for years, perfecting the ability to set without violating the double contact rule, and that work has now seemingly gone to waste.

What is double contact?

Double contact is when a player hits the ball twice in a row for their team. This violation is most often called during sets, when a player on one team will, using two hands, attempt to pass the ball to a teammate for the final hit/spike. If the player in question hits the ball with one of their hands before the other, even by a slight, unnoticeable margin, that would have still constituted double contact under the previous rules.

One way that referees used to identify a double touch was based on the spin of the ball after the set. If the ball was spinning sideways, that usually meant the ball was touched by one hand before the other.

Many setters have perfected the art of setting without putting any spin on the ball in order to prevent violating double contact. However, under the new rules, all that work would be going to waste, removing some of the finesse and technique that comes with the setter position.

Player reactions to the rule change

What kind of impact will the rule change have on the game itself?

In their statement regarding the rule change, the NCAA claimed that "data collected from an experimental rule in the spring of 2022 showed it would change only a small number of calls." However, the outrage this rule change has created does not stem from the impact on the game, but rather the impact on the setter position. Many players have declared worries that this rule change could nullify the setter position entirely.

That's likely an overreaction. The double contact violation has been called less and less in recent years. In that time, women's volleyball has become faster and faster. In 2023, women's college volleyball experienced a massive surge in ratings and attendance, and the faster play likely had a lot to do with it.

"Committee members thought the elimination of this judgment call would bring more consistency to the game," said the NCAA in their statement. They continued, "The committee also felt that it would promote the continuation of play, which would make the game more entertaining for the players and fans."

While double contact may not be a violation, that does not mean that the setter position has lost all of its value. Egregiously bad sets can still be called for lifts, or other violations, and will become more common if unexperienced setters start getting more confident with their abilities after this rule change. Furthermore, although the spin on the ball may not constitute a violation anymore, a great setter still provides remarkable ball placement for their outside hitters, which is immensely valuable.

In a report from Volleyball Mag, third-year rules committee chair and Northern Colorado coach Lyndsey Oates said "We talked for hours, knowing that this is a pretty significant change." She continued, "But we just didn’t see a lot of downside. The argument to keep calling it is that there might not be good enough skill in our sport, and that was what we kept coming back to, would it really change that. Coaches who are training the sport still don’t want a setter to not deliver a ball with rhythm and consistency and clean. There’s still an advantage to training it at a very high skill level. I don’t think we will lose that. I really don’t. It’ll just add a little more athleticism, a little less judgement for the officials, we won’t lose the skill in setting. It’s still important to set a clean ball."

The argument against Oates' assertion is that the absence of this rule could make the game 'uglier' at times, which is hard to object. However, most of the time, the change should be unnoticeable to the untrained eye. In fact, the position that could be most affected by this change may not even be the setter.

Middle blockers could stand the most to gain from this rule change. Why? Because, despite not often being put in a position to set the ball, when they are put in that situation, they were often called for double contact. Some referees would even make that call automatically, assuming that the taller, lankier middle blocker would not be able to perform an action like setting without making double contact. It has also become somewhat of a tradition for fans at the D-1 level to heckle "DOUBLE!" from the crowd any time a middle blocker makes a set. This change eliminates that call, which is undoubtedly good progress.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NCAA introduces divisive rule changes for 2024-25 volleyball season