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RED RIVER ATHLETIC CONFERENCE

Volleyball Operating Procedures

Volleyball Operating Procedures
(Updated 6-21-23)

Table of Contents

  1. Schedules
  2. Regular Season Operating Code
  3. Official Volleyball
  4. Ratings, Raters, Reporting Results and Statistics
  5. Awards
  6. Conference Tournament/Postseason Play
  7. Sportsmanship Policy
  8. Game Film Exchange
  9. Gameday Protocol

I. Schedules

Conference schedules are submitted to the coaches for approval each year by the RRAC office and chair. Conference matches will be played on Friday at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 12 noon with teams playing each conference opponent twice, once at home and once on the road. Members may move the match dates and times if both athletic directors agree.

Each member must send its complete season schedule to the RRAC Volleyball Chair, RRAC Commissioner, RRAC SID and RRAC Secretary by July 1 of each year.

II. Regular Season Operating Code

A. STATISTICS

The RRAC mandates that host teams provide accurate statistics for both teams through DakStats. If an institution competes but does not report results and player stats as outlined in the NAIA Coaches Manual for any two (2) consecutive weeks or a total of four (4) weeks, during the reporting period, then they will not be eligible for ratings for the remainder of the season.

B. PARTICIPANTS

The official volleyball roster consists of 16 players. The maximum travel party for postseason play is 21.

C. MATCH PROTOCOL

The RRAC will follow the official NCAA guidelines governing match protocol as outlined in the NCAA Volleyball Rule Book. If a school is broadcasting with live audio or visual, they may allow up to 75 seconds for time-outs.

D. INTERMISSION

A 10-minute intermission may be allowed between sets two and three with 7 minutes allotted for promotional activities and three minutes for team warm-ups. Notification of the intermission should be given to the visiting school prior to warm-ups.

E. THREE-BALL RETRIEVING SYSTEM

It is strongly encouraged that the three-ball retrieving system shall be utilized whenever possible but is not mandatory for conference matches. There should be three volleyballs at the scorer’s table which are verified by match officials.

F. MATCH OFFICIALS AND OTHER PERSONNEL

The RRAC office will oversee the RRAC Volleyball Official Coordinator, which will be responsible for assigning officials for conference matches. Matches shall include certified PAVO R1/R2 officials, two (2) line judges, a scorekeeper with assistant, public address announcer and other game personnel. Certified volleyball officials will be used as line judges.

G. ATHLETIC TRAINERS

Host institution will be responsible for providing services of a certified athletic trainer for first aid assistance to visiting teams. The athletic trainer should be available at least two hours prior to the designated match times. See duties of athletic trainers in AT Operating Procedures.

H. GAME ADMINISTRATION

Game administration and crowd control procedure shall be followed by each university to assure security and sportsmanlike treatment of all officials and participants. Each institution shall be responsible for their game administration duties per the NAIA rules and regulations.

III. FORFEITS

A. All Conference games must be played. If Conference games are not played during the period of time required, it is a forfeit. Games can be moved due to weather and unusual situations to any date within the time frame of a sport season completion, with approval by the Conference office.
B. Non-Conference games would meet the same criteria according to NAIA policy.
C. A school may appeal a forfeit thru the NAIA procedure manual if they feel they want to challenge the forfeit.
D. If both teams are unable to play due to COVID-positive testing, the game will be ruled a "no contest" and could possibly be rescheduled.

IV. OFFICIAL RRAC VOLLEYBALL

The official game ball for conference matches is the Baden Perfection VX5EC ball.

V. Ratings, Raters, Reporting Results and Statistics

A. TIME LINE
RRAC:

  1. Ratings week – Monday through Sunday. All games played during the designated week are to be included in the rating.
  2. Conference results are to be reported within 24 hours of the completion of the match via RRAC SIDHelp and DakStats web sync.
  3. Conference reports are due to the NAIA office by 12 noon CST on Monday.

NAIA:

  1. Ratings week for all sports defined as Monday through Sunday. All contests during the designated week are to be included in that week’s rating.
  2. Weekly conference/independent ratings reports are due to the NAIA office on Mondays by 12 noon CST.
  3. National Rating Ballot due to NAIA office no later than 10 a.m. CST on Tuesdays.
  4. Oversight reviews National Ratings Grid from 10 a.m. to 12 noon CST on Tuesdays.
  5. Raters are available from 12 noon to 2 p.m. CST on Tuesdays for rationale requests.

National Ratings released no later than 5 p.m. CST on Tuesdays.

B. REPORTING RESULTS
RRAC:

  1. Each RRAC volleyball program is required to report scores within 24 hours of the match, whether home or away. A penalty and/or fine will incur if statistics are not reported. Each coach is required to use the RRAC SIDHelp website at this link: www.redriverconference.com/admin to report all RRAC volleyball match results. Results will automatically transfer to the NAIA. If your school uses SIDHelp, you should only need to post on your school website, and the results will automatically transfer.
  2. If you have a legitimate FORFEIT, the correct procedure will be to notify the RRAC Commissioner within 24 hours of the scheduled match time. The commissioner will then notify the NAIA office for confirmation of the final results. The NAIA will award the correct teams with a win or loss. Please do not wait to report this action.
  3. The RRAC office will contact the school’s athletic director for institutions that miss one result report. If the school misses a second report date, the school president will be notified. A third failed report could result in the volleyball coach’s suspension for one game. If a school continues to be a habitual violator by not reporting daily results, then the team will be subject to suspension from the RRAC Volleyball Tournament. This is in addition to the NAIA penalties listed in the NAIA Volleyball Coaches Manual which states after 2 consecutive missed report dates or 4 weeks of missed reporting dates, the team will not be eligible for rating for the remainder of the season.

C. STATISTICS

Conference:

Following each match, RRAC coaches and/or SIDs are REQUIRED to upload or web sync team and individual statistics for their team. This should be done upon completion of each match played or within the 24-hour window set by the NAIA. Stats must be uploaded through DakStats. If a school does not send in their statistics then their players will not be eligible for weekly honors or national honors.

The RRAC office will contact the school’s athletic director for institutions that miss one statistical report. If the school misses a second report date, the school president will be notified. A third failed report could result in the volleyball coach’s suspension for one game. This is in addition to the NAIA penalties listed in the NAIA Volleyball Coaches Manual.

National:

The official NAIA statistics summary (clarification, definition, calculation) is provided as Appendix M in this manual. Additional statistical information is available from:

AVCA Statistical Manual
1227 Lake Plaza Drive, Suite B
Colorado Springs, CO 80906
(719) 576-7777

The intent of the AVCA Statisticians Manual is to assist volleyball statisticians and sports information directors with a more consistent and efficient method of using statistics in volleyball. It is vital that sport records maintain a level of integrity and accuracy. The NAIA urges the official statistician for every sport to become familiar and have a working knowledge of the statistical manual.

NOTE: The NAIA statistics include serve reception attempts and serve attempts while AVCA statistics do not.

During the season, current statistics are viewable through DakStats for volleyball. To be eligible for the statistical report, a student-athlete must play in 75 percent of team games played. Only statistics from games against varsity teams from upper-level, degree-granting institutions in the United States and Canada should be submitted.

It is strongly recommended that the host institution be responsible for both team’s official statistics. The home team must notify the opposing team at least 72 hours prior to contest if official stats will not be provided. The opposing team can file an appeal if they feel an error was made in the official stats up to 72 hours after the conclusion of the contest. The appeal must be filed with the home team up to 72 hours after the contest and both teams must change the stats. With the use of DakStats and the web sync feature, there is a $75 per sport fee for volleyball, which currently uses the system for weekly reporting.

D. Statistical Definitions

Full statistical definitions and scoring guidelines can be found here: http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/Stats_Manuals/VB/2016.pdf.

VI. VOLLEYBALL AWARDS

A. PLAYER OF THE WEEK

1. Conference

The Conference shall honor a players of the Week for volleyball, based on individual performance, team results, statistics, records and effect on outcome of sets or matches. Also to be considered is the level of competition of opponents. Nominations must be made according to times and schedules set each season by the RRAC.

During each week RRAC coaches are encouraged to nominate players from their team for RRAC Attacker of the Week, Setter of the Week, and Defender of the Week consideration.

Enter your nominees’ information at www.naiastats.org/admin by 7 p.m. on Sunday. You will need to register with the website which is probably a good idea to do in advance. One week constitutes the previous Monday through Sunday. You may not nominate more than one player from your team for any of the categories such as two players for player of the week.

RRAC selections will be submitted for national award consideration.

Weekly RRAC Conference winners will be announced each Monday morning through email and on www.redriverconference.com.

Awards will be sent to the head coach from each team.

RRAC ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM:

Coaches will select a 12-member first team which will incluce: Most Valuable Player/Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Setter of the Year. Second Team All-Conference will consist of the next 12 players. Honorable mention will include any student-athlete that received votes on two ballots and did not receive enough votes to be on the first or second team. If a team does not get at least two players on the first or second team or honorable mention, they may add one or two players to the honorable mention team. Individual Awards will include Player of the Year, Attacker of the Year, Defender of the Year, Setter of the Year, Newcomer of the Year, Freshman of the Year and Coach of the Year.

Method of Selection:

Nominations for the All-Conference teams and Individual Awards will be sent to the Conference office according to times and schedules set by the Conference SID & volleyball chair. All-Conference nominations are due from each team by Monday after the completion of the season. Each coach will nominate a number of players based on how they finished in the final regular season conference standings by win percentage. The first and second place teams may nominate a maximum of eight players, the third and fourth place may nominate a maximum of six players, the fifth and sixth place teams may nominate a maximum of four players and any team that finishes in seventh place or below may nominate a maximum of two players. With nine teams, the total nominations may not exceed 42. Coaches will rank their players with their best on top through their entire list. From those nominations, a ballot will be disseminated for review to the coaches by Tuesday. There will be a conference call on the Tuesday following the completion of the season for coaches to discuss the nominations and rankings of each player. During the conference call, coaches may make any adjustments to their rankings before the final ballot is made. All head coaches will place their votes through a secret ballot distributed by the conference sports information director. Coaches may vote for players in any order they choose, regardless of the rankings of players on the ballot.

Voting Procedure:

Specialty awards will be voted on first. MVP, Setter of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year. MVP will be ranked 1. SOY and DPY will be added to the top 14 if not voted upon during the normal process in positions 13 and 14. Each coach will openly vote on each player for the ranking of the next 14 players starting with the number 1 player on each coaches list. The players will be ranked respectfully 1-14 based on the number of votes given. Once a player is voted on from the coaches list that coach moves the next player ranked i.e. 2, 3, … until all 14 positions are filled on the First Team and Second Team. All other players receiving a vote will be named on the Honorable Mention team. If there are not 14 players named to the honorable mention team, then a coach may nominate a player, up to 2 players per team, if they are not represented.

Announcements of Teams:

The All-Conference Teams & Specialty Award winners will be announced after the completion of Match number 2 at the Conference Tournament.

COACH OF THE YEAR

The Coach of the Year will be the head coach of the team that wins the RRAC Volleyball Tournament.

PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Conference/Independent Player of the Year

Each conference and the Association of Independent Institutions select a Player of the Year using its own method of determination. However, it is recommended that the following national selection process be taken into consideration when selecting a Conference Player of the Year.

E. AVCA Recognition

In addition to NAIA honors, the AVCA conducts a separate, AVCA-NAIA recognition program which includes player and coach awards at regional and national levels. In order to be eligible to receive AVCA honors the coach of the team involved must be an active member of the AVCA.

The AVCA has eight geographic regions for recognition purposes. Each region has a recognition committee that meets annually to select its All-Region Team, Region Player of the Year and Region Coach of the Year. The AVCANAIA region honors must be submitted by each respective committee to the NAIA national office by November 24. AVCA national recognition includes All-America, National Player of the Year and National Coach of the Year. The officers of the NAIA-VCA and the NAIA-VCA Recognition Committee chair comprise the selection committee for AVCA national honors, convening at the NAIA National Tournament to complete the selection process.

VII. RRAC Tournament/Postseason Play

A. Playing Format:

The RRAC Postseason Tournament will be a 6-team single elimination format with the number 1-6 seeds determined by the RRAC rankings/conference standings. Tournament bids will be accepted and approved at the RRAC Spring Meeting. The top two bids will then be sent to the Commissioner who will present the bid’s to the Athletic Director’s spring meeting. The AD’s will recommend a bid to the Presidents. Seeding will be based upon winning percentage in conference matches. Teams will be seeded with the top two seeds receiving a first-round bye followed by #3 vs. #6, #4 vs. #5. The following playing schedule is recommended, however, the host institution may modify within reason:

Friday 10:30 a.m. First Round: #4 vs. #5
  1 p.m. First Round: #3 vs. #6
  4:30 p.m. Semifinal: #1 vs. Winner of Match 1
  7 p.m. Semifinal: #2 vs. Winner of Match 2
Saturday 1 p.m. Championship Match

B. Postseason Play/Tournament seeding tie-breaker:

The following tie-breaker procedure shall be used to determine participants and seeding for the post-season volleyball tournament:

  1. Head-to-head match competition
  2. Match record against divisional & cross divisional opponents in descending order starting with highest seeded team
  3. Head-to-head game competition
  4. Game record against divisional & cross divisional opponents in descending order starting with highest seeded team
  5. Total points head-to-head with tied opponents
  6. Total points against division & cross divisional opponents in descending order starting with highest seeded team

C. All-Tournament Team:

The team will consist of seven (7) players to be selected by the coaches competing in the Conference Championship: three (3) from the champion, two (2) from the runner-up and one (1) from each semifinal loser. The Most Valuable Player will be included as part of the seven and selected from the championship game.

D. Pre-Tournament Coaches Meeting

There will be a meeting with all coaches the day before the postseason tournament. All coaches are asked to be present in-person or on the call.

VIII. Sportsmanship Policy

Inappropriate acts by Administrators, Coaches or Players before, during and following athletic contests shall be handled by the Commissioner. Refer to the RRAC Sportsmanship Policy.

IX. Game Film Exchange

All teams are required to film home RRAC conference matches and submit through the Hudl league exchange within 24 hours of the last volleyball match. The last home or away non-conference match prior to week 1 of the RRAC Conference Schedule must also be uploaded to the Hudl server by every member school within 24 hours. The following penalties will be enforced:

  1. 1st violation = Locked out for 1 week from Hudl server, but still required to meet deadlines.
  2. 2nd violation = Locked out for 2 weeks from Hudl server, but still required to meet deadlines.
  3. 3rd violation = Locked out from Hudl server for the remaining of the volleyball season, but still required to meet deadlines, AND voting privileges and post-season awards for players are revoked.

Each camera must be elevated at least 10 feet from the ground to allow for visibility of player numbers from the viewpoint.

Scoresheets will only need to be shared if video is not clearly visible.

X. Gameday Protocol

There is a 60-minute warmup at each RRAC contest. The Home team is responsible for giving the visiting team 30 minutes of warm-up time. Home teams will take the first 30-minute warm-up, and visiting teams will take the second 30-minute warm-up.

The 30 minutes is for the practicing team only. The other team should not be in the gym during this practice unless moving between the dressing room and training room.