By
Ryan Finley
Arizona Summer Wildcat
Rubio: 'It's a new era for volleyball'
When the UA volleyball team takes the floor this season, they will be playing a different game - literally.
The 2001 season will mark a change in collegiate volleyball's scoring system, implementing "rally scoring" in an attempt to quicken games and draw more fans to the sport.
With the new rules, which were added in early February at the National Association for Girls and Women in Sports' conference, gone are sideouts and the notion that a team can only score once it has earned the serve. Under the new system, each rally will count for a point, regardless of which team owns the serve.
Matches will consist of a best-of-five series of games to 30. In the event of a 2-2 tie, the fifth game will be played to 15. In addition, "let serves" - balls that knick the net - will now be playable.
So far, the changes have been met with mixed results, even within the Arizona program.
UA head coach Dave Rubio is in favor of the changes and said the new system will allow the sport to appeal to a larger fan base while raising the level of play.
"It's a new era for volleyball," he said. "I think the general fan will have a better understanding of the game. For the players, the intensity will be higher from the beginning of the game. The ebb and flow of the game will be different. There won't be so much dead time. Dead time kills volleyball."
Junior outside hitter Lisa Rutledge begs to differ.
"Personally, I don't like it," she said. "But it's an obstacle I'm going to have to overcome. Our coaches have done a great job in training us for (the changes). Now you can't let your guard down. You can't slack off."
Rubio said the new system will likely allow for more upsets.
"It used to be that the teams that were more physical and consistent tended to win," he said. "Now, the momentum is different. I'm not really concerned whether it's good for Arizona. It's great for volleyball."
The scoring changes, which have been in development for more than six years, will also make the sport more marketable. With the new rules, most games should finish within two hours, making the games more attractive to television networks.
Rutledge said that the new rules - and the television exposure that could come with them - should help bring a new generation of fans to McKale Center.
"I hope it does bring more fans," she said. "I think that was one of the motivating factors."
