For the 2001 season, the NCAA instituted a new scoring system in women’s volleyball to help increase the pace and scoring of the game, intending to make it more appealing to fans. However, the switch had a few noticeable effects on the actual competition, not just the ticket sales.

In the previous scoring system, teams could only score a point while they were the serving team. Service switched when the serving team loses a point, and the games only went to 15 points. Teams had to win by at least two points.

Now, a point is awarded every time the ball hits the floor in the rally system, regardless of which team is serving, and the games go to 30 points.

The NCAA’s goals were to make the games shorter, higher scoring and more exciting.

As coach Charita Stubbs said of high school games still under the old rules, “They’re just painful to watch. You couldn’t pay me to do it.”

However, concerning the actual competition, the results vary with different teams.

Statistically speaking, in the six years before the rule change, N.C. State had an overall winning percentage of .436 and a conference winning percentage of .202. In the six seasons since, the winning percentages have dropped to .188 and .018, respectively.

Senior libero Andrea Bentley said the rule changes do not correlate to the change in winning percentages.

“I certainly don’t think the change of rules was an excuse,” Bentley said. “Obviously, if you’re a better serving team, you’d definitely like the old system better. In rally scoring, teams get a chance to score points on a side-out, so they have more opportunities.”

There are more effects than just the offensive balance though.

“Rally scoring is definitely more unforgiving,” Stubbs said. “Every error you make is giving away a point. You don’t just lose service if you hit the ball in the net.”

According to Stubbs, these consequences benefit certain types of players.

“You need players who are experienced,” she said. “They need to know how to adjust in crunch time. They need to know ways to win.”

With a roster featuring only four upperclassmen and 13 underclassmen, including nine freshmen, the Wolfpack doesn’t have a roster full of seasoned veterans just yet.

Stubbs said this year’s volleyball team might be better-suited for the old scoring system.

“I think that we would do better in the old system,” Stubbs said. “In the new one, you give up a lot more points by making the same mistakes.”

Conditioning was also mentioned multiple times as another area affected by the changes. “If you’re not in shape, then it’s a lot harder,” senior middle blocker Ashley Wallace said.

Stubbs agreed that conditioning can play a part in keeping up with the new scoring system because of the pace of games.

“Everyone has to train to be better athletes in order to keep up with the pace,” she said.

By the Numbers — Volleyball

.018 ACC winning percentage 2001-2006.188 overall winning percentage 2001-2006.202 ACC winning percentage 1995-2000.436 overall winning percentage 1995-20002 ACC wins in 108 tries 2001-200619 ACC wins in 94 tries 1995-2000101 total wins in 239 games 1995-2000106 ACC losses since 2001-2006

Source: NCSU Athletics