MSHSAA approves switch to rally scoring in the fall

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Missouri high school volleyball teams will experiment with new scoring rules next season.

The Missouri State High School Activities Association has approved a recommendation to experiment with rally scoring, which means a point is scored each time the ball is blown dead. Currently, teams use side-out scoring, where a point can be earned only when a team is serving.

Missouri officials hope the rules will be adopted as an alternative to new national rules, which they say will prolong games.

Missouri teams will play a best two-out-of-three match utilizing rally scoring to 25 points for all games. There will no 25-point cap, meaning teams still have to win by two, said a spokesman for the MSHSAA.

Missouri schools pushed for the experiment because of concern over new national rules that will require teams to win three-out-of-five games, rather than that current two-out-three. That format, opponents say, would prolong matches, affecting schedules and officials' fees.

Missouri and other states, including Illinois, will conduct the best-of-three scoring experiment rather than immediately adopting the best-of-five format.

Missouri requested and received permission from the National Federation of State High School Associations to conduct the experiment.

If the federation chooses not to adopt the experimental rules, Missouri and other states will have to play the best three-out-of-five format. That format uses the new rally scoring.