MEN S VOLLEYBALL SECTION A LEADERSHIP A variety of conference and regional functions will be met through the efforts of the conference volleyball committee. The committee will be constituted as follows: a) Chair : Donan Cruz, Grand View 1) Chair HEART Volleyball committee 2) Serve as the HEART rater in the national rating process 3) Server as HEART rating coordinator 4) Chair the HEART tournament committee 5) Serve as convener and chair of the all coaches meetings b) Vice-Chair: Nick Clark, Clarke University 1) Co-Chair HEART Volleyball committee 2) Serve as the second HEART rater in the national rating process 3) Co-Chair the HEART tournament committee 4) Co-Chair Heart Meetings and represent the Heart in place of Chair Person in the case he/she is unavailable. Additional leadership roles include: a) NAIA/AVCA Recognition Representative Donan Cruz, Grand View The coach of the school presently chairing the conference will serve as necessary in expediting the organization of the HEART volleyball committee. Individuals to fill the identified leadership roles will be elected to two-year terms during the Annual HEART Volleyball Coaches Meeting. Nominations will be solicited during the call for agenda items each fall. Nominations will also be accepted from the floor. SECTION B COACHES MEETINGS 1. A fall meeting will be held the first week of August during the Heart Summit. 2. Monday following the post-season championships (9am at a central site to be determined annually) SECTION C COMPETITION MODEL Teams will play a home and away dual. Conference play may begin the first week of January and will not be limited to any specific days of the week as a way to create flexible scheduling in correlation to men s and women s basketball. The regular season conference play must be completed at least seven days prior to the NAIA completion deadline to accommodate conference post season play. Varsity match times are recommended as follows: Any given match may be moved to a different time or date with the mutual consent of the institutions involved. Once a change has been identified as desirable it is to be submitted to the Heart commissioner for approval. Match Play Models Junior Varsity match play: 1. Weekday matches: Best 2 of 3 games (25 points) a. If two JV contests are played both will be best 2 of 3 (25 pts) 1. Saturday matches: Best 3 of 5 games (25 points) a. If two JV contests are played both will be best 2 of 3 (25 pts) Varsity match play: 1. Best 3 of 5 games (25 points) to constitute a match Deciding games: Varsity or JV will be to 15 points. Only HEART scheduled play will be considered for league standings.
The regular season champion receives the HEART banner. 1. The team with the best conference record overall will be determined as the Regular season champion. In the case of a tie; the tie breaking system will determine the Regular Season Champion OR Co-Champions will be recognized. 2. The Regular Season Champion will receive the Heart Championship Banner. 3. The Regular Season Champion will host the Conference Tournament Championship. 4. The Conference Tournament Champion will receive the Tournament Trophy. Post-Season play: a) The Heart post-season tournament will effectively be the first round of NAIA post-season play and be excluded from the 28-date season limitation. b) Conference tournament will be held at one host site, determined by the Regular Season Champion - and be held on Friday and Saturday. c) Facilities must meet NAIA rules standards. d) Contests throughout the series will be best 3 of 5 match play to 25 with game 5 being to 15. e) All teams automatically qualify for the Conference tournament. f) Tournament format will be as follows: Friday at 10:00 am: #3 Seed vs. #6 Seed Friday at 12:00 pm: #4 Seed vs. #5 Seed Friday at 2:00 pm: #1 Seed vs. Winner of #4 vs. #5 Friday at 4:00 pm: #2 Seed vs. Winner of #3 vs. #6 Saturday at 2:00 pm: Conference Tournament Championship g) Financial Procedures will follow guidelines established by the Heart for post-season play. h) A conference financial reporting form will be provided by the conference i) Admission is required of all attending. (Minimums: Students $2.00 and Adults $6.00) j) Tournament Banquet: Host institution will be required to host a tournament banquet to recognize The Heart of America Conference Awards. k) The cost of the banquet shall not exceed $15.00 per head in attendance. l) A formal presentation of awards is required and awards will be sent to the host prior to the banquet. 5. The official party for each team participating in post-season play is as established by NAIA post-season guidelines. (Presently a maximum of 21 with no more than 16 uniformed players). 6. Qualification for Nationals: a. The Heart has 1 automatic bid (1 bid per 6 schools). b. Automatic bid will be awarded to our Conference Tournament Champion. 6. Tie-Breaking Procedures a) Tie breaking procedures will apply as necessary to determine seed or position in any of the various HEART volleyball competition models. (Including the Regular Dual Season and the JV Tournament). b) The following criteria apply in descending order as necessary to draw some resolution. At the point where any of these procedures breaks a tie between some of the teams the process will automatically revert back to the top of the order and work systematically back through the criteria until all ties are resolved. 1. Winner of the head to head contest 2. Percentage of matches won in play among the tied teams 3. Percentage of games won in play among the tied teams 4. Point differential (total offensive points minus total defensive points) in play among the tied teams 5. Percentage of games won in play with all opponents
6. Point differential (total offensive points minus total defensive points) in play with all opponents 7. Coin flip SECTION E SECTION F CONFERENCE VOLLEYBALL The official conference volleyball to be used for all Heart of America play is the Molten Flistatec V5M5000 OFFICIALS 1. A first referee, a second referee and linespersons will be assigned on a central basis for all regular season and post-season conference play. The HEART assignor is also available to assign for non-conference and tournament competition. Linespersons can be assigned for non-conference play at the request of the host institution. a) Assignor will be informed by October 15 of match dates and locations for which officials will be required. b) Schools will receive a list of all conference officials complete with addresses and social security numbers. c) Assignor will normally identify which official will be the first referee. 2. The elected co-rep will coordinate the assignment function as necessary. 3. Coaches are asked to submit performance feedback for each of the match officials subsequent to each match through a system devised and maintained by the elected co-rep. 4. Faculty, staff, or students associated with member institutions will not be allowed to officiate any HEART volleyball play involving their institution. 5. Minimum certifications for a first or second referee to work HEART contests will be State level PAVO or Regional level USAV. It will be a responsibility of the HEART assignor to identify and assign linespersons who have suitable credentials. 6. An official s rate schedule will be negotiated early three years. The rate scale through 2018 is: Varsity: 2018-19 2019-20 and 2020-21 Single best of five match $130 per official $150 per official Tournament best of five match $110 per official $120 per official Junior Varsity Single best of five match $95 $100 per official Tournament best of five match $90 $95 per official Single best of three match $80 $85 per official Tournament best of three match $75 $80 per official Lines Persons $50 $60 per official 7. The conference Supervisor of Officials who reports directly to the commissioner assigns all officials for conference play. A fee will be assessed by the conference office to each institution to cover the supervisor s stipend. SECTION G MATCH PROTOCOL AND HOSTING 1. The host institution will provide: a) A minimum of ten practice balls for the visiting team. b) Athletic training support. c) Quality game balls. d) Court side water and cups. 2. It is recommended that the host institution provide: a) A three-ball return system. b) A public address system and an announcer to call the match. c) Uniformed linespersons. d) Written protocol outline. 3. Standard protocol will include: a) Prayer for institutions who so choose. b) Presentation of the National Anthem. c) Introduction of all players (Starters to include the libero if appropriate and non-starters). d) Captain and then player greeting at the net prior to play. e) On game court warm up prior to a varsity contest will be a minimum of 30 minutes unless modified by mutual agreement. 4. The following protocol model will be used in all scheduled conference play: Times below will begin at 40 minutes on clock.
a) 10 visiting team court b) 10 home team court c) 5 visiting team d) 5 home e) 5 visiting team f) 5 home team 5. Local promotions are permissible during regular and postseason contests. They are limited to a maximum of seven minutes between specified games (normally 2 and 3). Guest teams will be appraised in advance and have the option to request up to two minutes of on-court warm up prior to resuming play if desired. 6. Senior recognition will only be acceptable in conjunction with regular season contests. 7. Uniform selection: The visiting team will wear white/light uniforms. Home teams will wear dark (at least a good contrast color) for HEART dual play. It is desirable for the host team to identify an appropriate location for the visiting team to change from practice wear to game wear. SECTION H SPORTS INFORMATION 1. The home team is responsible to record and provide statistics for both teams in all HEART competition. Entry into the DakStats system will be the responsibility of each respective team. 2. The NAIA/HEART on-line SID service will provide ongoing statistical and sports information support to volleyball during the season and through the post-season series. 3. Institutions will submit match by match results and statistics through the NAIA/HEART and Dakstats services. Be certain that your schedule in SID Help accurately identifies your regular season HEART Conference matches. These services will in turn become the data bases from which the HEART SID will work. 4. Nominations for Setter of the week, Libero of the week, Attacker of the week and National Player of the week nominee must be submitted through your institution s SID each weekend. Deadline: 5:00 PM each Sunday of the reporting season. Weekly selections will be made by a committee appointed by the HEART SID. Conference standings, statistical leaders and players of the week will be available on an ongoing basis. 5. The Conference SID will forward the HEART National Player of the week nominee on for national consideration. 6. The NAIA SID department will access your team and player statistics through the national reporting system for inclusion in National reports. SECTION I RATINGS PROCESS 1. In order for any team to be eligible for ratings, all contest results must be reported by that institution to the NAIA Scoreboard (www.naiasports.org/admin/) within 24 hours of completion. Institutions failing to report results for two consecutive weeks, or four total weeks during the season will not be eligible for ratings for the remainder of the season. 2. The NAIA/HEART on-line SID service will provide ongoing statistical and sports information support to volleyball during the season and through the post-season series. 3. Institutions who fail to report ANY two weeks will not be eligible for rating consideration for the remainder of the season (NAIA guideline). 4. The Heart of America volleyball committee will convene by conference call prior to 10 am Monday morning during the season to conduct the Heart of America rating. 5. The Heart of America rating will then be submitted to the Heart of America oversight committee and on to the NAIA for national rating consideration. SECTION J ALL-CONFERENCE, PLAYER AND COACH OF THE YEAR PROCESS 1. Selections will be made at the annual coaches meeting. 2. A coach may submit any number of their players for consideration.
3. All-conference nominees must have participated in a minimum of 60% of the games played by their team to be eligible for consideration. 4. Nominees must be submitted on or before March 26, 2019 to Donan Cruz, Grand View. 5. Statistics will be compiled, analyzed and sent to each league coach for use in considering their selections. 6. Selections: a) 7 players to 1 st team b) 7 players to 2 nd team c) Honorable Mention (awarded any player receiving votes and at the discretion of the sponsoring coach and meets the 60% participation requirement) d) HEART Attacker of the Year e) HEART Player of the Year f) HEART Setter of the Year g) HEART Defender of the Year h) HEART Freshman/Newcomer of the Year i) HEART Coach of the Year (any conference head coach is eligible) 7. Time will be reserved during the annual meeting for consideration of nominees. 8. The following will be selected by consensus through discussion: a) HEART Player of the Year b) HEART Setter of the Year d) HEART Libero of the Year e) HEART Attacker of the Year f) HEART Freshman/Newcomer of the year g) The top 8 all-conference selections in rank order 9. Nominees for Freshman/Newcomer of the Year Award will be limited to players who are in their freshman year academically and who has not previously represented the nominee school or another Heart school in either varsity or junior varsity volleyball competition. 10. Subsequent to consensus discussions/selections for all-conference a ballot system will be used to complete the process. Each coach may vote for a total of 16 additional players for recognition with a point system of 16 points descending to 1 point for ninth through twenty-fourth places respectively. Coaches will not be allowed to vote for their own players. They may, however, leave blanks on the ballot in the spots where they feel their own players belong. 11. Subsequent to the all-conference ballot vote the balance of the first team selection will be ranked by consensus. 12. The Heart of America Coach of the Year will be selected by ballot. a) The successful candidate must have received a majority vote of the ballots submitted. b) A second or third ballot will be utilized as necessary to attain a selection with majority support. 13. Completed selections will be submitted to the NAIA as the HEART nominees for Player of the Year and All-America consideration. 14. Ballots will subsequently be reviewed and revised as necessary to provide a slate of AVCA qualified nominees for NAIA/AVCA. All-Region, Freshman of the Year, Region Assistant Coach of the Year, Region Coach of the Year and subsequent national consideration. (All nominees must come from institutions where the Head Coach is a member of the AVCA.) Qualified selections will be forwarded for AVCA/NAIA review. SECTION K AWARDS 1. Championship Banner for regular season champion. 2. Plaques will be provided to the following: a. 1 st team all-conference b. Player of the Year c. Setter of the Year d. Libero of the Year e. Attacker of the Year f. Freshman/Newcomer of the Year
g. Coach of the Year 3. Certificates will be provided for 2 nd team all-conference 4. All award orders will be placed through the conference office. Awards will be covered through the conference postseason fee. SECTION L SCOUTING 1. HEART coaches are free to exchange information (oral, written or video) relative to any opponent (HEART or non-conference) with other HEART coaches at their own discretion. Further they may share information about non-conference opponents with anyone they choose to. 2. No information or video on HEART teams will be shared with non-conference teams. SECTION M VIDEO EXCHANGE 1. Hudl will be the exclusive 3rd party provider for video exchange. 2. Hudl will provide the items listed below. Please see Hudl agreement for specific details of the partnership. a. Upload & download video b. Review film c. Conference exchange pool. 3. Dual season conference play will be video recorded by the host school. They are subsequently expected to post the video (in behalf of both teams) to Hudl within 24 hours of completion. Saturday matches must be uploaded by midnight on the following Sunday. 4. It is encouraged that tournament and non- conference play be video recorded and posted as well. 5. Schools will post a minimum of 2 non-conference matches (if they have played 2 or more) that precede their HEART opener. 6. The preferred camera angle will be from base line. 7. Any team that does not post video in the required timeline will be given a warning 1 st and then a $250 fine for a 2 nd time.