NFHS Rules and Injury Substitutions.

[Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.]

I would like a rules interpretation for the following situation which occured in a CYO girls' H.S. match yesterday afternoon.

Team A has only six players. During the second game of a best two out of three match A6 leaves the game because of illness. I know that A6 cannot return to play in the second game of the match and that each time her position comes up to serve, it is a sideout. (The OhioHSAA is not adopting rally scoring until next school year and CYO volleyball playes uses the OhioHSAA adoption of NFHS rules, therefore we are still using sideout scoring.)

If the match goes to a third and deciding game, can A6 play in the third game?

[Homer]

A6 may certainly play in the third game - Casebook 10.3.7 situation B, "Comment: the injured player could play in subsequent games".

Indeed, while the rules aren't completely clear, I'm not sure she couldn't re-enter the 2nd game if she sufficiently recovered. While the rules forbid the re-entry of an injured player replaced by exceptional substitution, there doesn't seem to be any restrictions on the re-entry of a player who was not so replaced.

But note the team doesn't have the option of playing with only five if -any- substitution, including an exceptional substitution is available.

All this assumes we don't have an "unconsicous or apparently unconscious" injury situation. Unconscious or apparently unconscious injuries disqualify a player for the remainder of the day without written approval from a doctor.