Illinois at Purdue (9-29-12)
 

While watching Saturday night's match between Illinois and Purdue, I noticed that the R1 would occasionally whistle before the fault took place. For example, on a team's third hit, when the ball was directed into the middle of the net, he would not wait for the ball to touch the floor before sounding the whistle. He would then signal point and ball lands inbounds. Since I only officiate under NFHS rules, I am wondering if this has anything to do with the differences between NFHS and NCAA rules concerning net faults and center line violations.

NOTE: I actually taped this match, so it's possible that my audio and video were slightly out of sync.

I haven't watched the match, so all I will say is there is no difference in this respect between NFHS and NCAA rules. Wait until the fault occurs before the whistle is blown.

Occasionally you might whistle when a ball is hit into the net and someone makes an effort to play the ball, thinking it's going to be four hits, and then they don't touch the ball and you wind up a touch early with the whistle. I know I've done this.