Standing just a hair over 5-foot-5, senior libero Chrissie
Zartman is hardly the picture of intimidation on the volleyball
court. But despite her modest stature, Zartman possesses one of the
most powerful serves on the team. Now, a new and somewhat
controversial rule implemented this season allows her to show her
stuff.
The libero position itself was only allowed into women’s
NCAA competition in 2002 to give coaches and their teams a
defensive specialist. The addition of the libero was, at the time,
intended to improve the quality of passing and digging in the
women’s game, but she was not allowed to serve. The libero
previously needed to substitute out of the rotation when her turn
to serve came around.
But no longer. After an experimental period last spring allowed
Division I coaches to evaluate the proposed rule, the NCAA rules
committee for women’s volleyball approved the change. Debbie
Hendricks, the chair of that committee, said that the new rule
enjoyed heavy support from most of the coaches the committee
surveyed.
“We felt that it was going to be a change that would
provide more excitement to the game, and would allow for [the
libero] to provide even more of an impact on the game,”
Hendricks said.
The new rule is one of only a few major changes in volleyball
that have occurred in recent years. The introduction of rally
scoring in place of sideout scoring in 2001, as well as the
addition of the libero position, have drastically altered the way
the women’s game is played. And as with any major change, not
all the new rules have been greeted enthusiastically.
Andy Banachowski, head coach at UCLA for 38 years, was not a
proponent of allowing liberos to serve, despite the fact that he
was well aware of Zartman’s capabilities. He noted that the
libero was created with its own special characteristics and that it
was a sufficiently unique position not to serve. Hendricks said she
understood Banachowski’s reservations.
“The serve has become a significant offensive weapon, and
that’s where the hedging [on the part of some coaches] comes
in. The libero wasn’t supposed to be an offensive weapon. But
[the committee] feels that most people will eventually embrace the
change. I think we’ll have a better assessment towards the
end of the season.”
Zartman is currently second on the team in aces with eight, but
leads the team with 20 errors on the year, nearly twice as many as
the next closest player (sophomore Becky Green has 11 errors and 4
aces).
Zartman developed her aggressive serve playing in two-person
beach tournaments, and is widely acknowledged as the best beach
player on the team. But, her current ratio of aces to errors leaves
plenty of room for improvement.