The elimination of the double contact rule, a rule preventing players from contacting the ball more than once in a single attempt on their teams’ second of three permitted contacts, by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is sparking debates across the volleyball community at all levels of competition. This precedent will be implemented for the first time in the 2024 Fall Season. According to the NCAA, “Officiating double contacts has sparked intense debates between coaches and volleyball officials during matches. Committee members thought the elimination of this judgment call would bring more consistency to the game.” In the eyes of four-year varsity volleyball athletes, Izzy Saffert and Erica Lee, the elimination of this long-standing rule decreases the technicality of a vital position in the game.
Expanding on her discontent with the rule change, senior libero Izzy Saffert explains the element of cleanliness that will be lost without a strict double-contact policy. “I don’t like it. I just feel like so many setters have worked so hard to perfect their game and make it so they set a clean ball. When they got rid of this rule, it makes it so the game is going to be sloppier, which I don’t like in general,” Saffert said.
Although not supportive of the rule as a whole, Saffert does feel that it provides greater freedom to double the ball (or touch the ball twice and only count as one contact), increasing her confidence in her setting ability as she continues her volleyball career at Carnegie Mellon University in the Fall of 2024. “I might be more willing to use my hands as a libero and not be scared to double…I feel like it won’t change my game too much except for being more willing to take risks,” Saffert said.
Sharing a similar perspective on the changing of this rule in NCAA Volleyball, senior outside hitter Erica Lee expresses her distaste for the lack of precision this rule gives to the setting position. “I don’t like it. I feel like it takes away from setters who work their whole career to get the best sets and not double, so bringing in doubling just kind of defeats what they’ve worked so hard for,” Lee said.
I don’t like it. I feel like it takes away from setters who work their whole career to get the best sets and not double, so bringing in doubling just kind of defeats what they’ve worked so hard for.”
— Erica Lee
Lee furthers her thoughts, describing that she doesn’t foresee this rule change altering the strategies or coaching techniques teams utilize in the future. “I feel like a double is just something that happens on accident, so I think they will, or at least they should still keep the same coaching [methods],” Lee said.
Elaborating on Lee’s opinion, Saffert describes that eliminating the double rule will likely encourage teams to set the ball more often – eliminating the hesitation/fear that many players associate with this skill. “In out-of-system situations, people might be more willing to push the ball if they need to, but I think in general, all of that [coaching strategies and techniques] will stay relatively the same,” Saffert said.
Despite the implementation of this rule being solely focused on the NCAA at this time, many high school volleyball athletes feel passionately about the alteration in the game. As flexibility increases with double contacts in the 2024 season, it will be intriguing to observe the effect it has on the game at the high school level in upcoming years.