ODESSA, TX (KWES) - In 2016, the NCAA introduced a video challenge review system. After two full seasons with the ability to challenge a referee's call through instant replay, some changes are likely to be made to simplify the process.
On Friday, the NCAA women's volleyball rules committee recommended a change to combine in/out and touch calls under the video review system.
If approved by the NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel, the rule will go into effect for the 2018 season. Right now, these challenges are separate and UTPB's head volleyball coach Tim Loesch thinks that this change will bring about more accurate calls.
"Before if you made a challenge, you had to specify one or the other. So it could be they say, 'Oh you know it touched somebody, but it went out,' and you challenged in or out, well they can't make the call then. So I think it helps the referees make the right call more often by combining those two," said Loesch.
According to the NCAA, these two calls are the most reviewed. In 2017, it took on average one minute and thirty seconds per challenge. In Coach Loesch's experience, it took closer to a couple minutes.
"Hopefully that'll speed up as people get more used to using the technology. I think the change that they're proposing will also possibly speed it up," said Loesch.
The NCAA rules committee will discuss these proposed changes in late February.
