Litchfield, SC – Doug Cobbs is back from the summer meeting of the North Carolina Independent School Athletic Association (NCISAA) Board of Managers.

During last week’s meeting, Cobbs and other managers of the NCISAA discussed a variety of topics and made decisions about the location of the several upcoming state tournaments.

One of the major developments for the 2005 volleyball season will be the addition of the Libero Player to the court. This player will be a defensive specialist who stays on the back row during the entire contest.

Six players will still be on the court, but the Libero Player will wear a different color jersey to be distinguished from the rest of the team.

According to Cobbs, colleges are using the Libero Player now and many public high schools are also considering the use of the player.

The state volleyball tournament will be held at Spartanburg Day School in Spartanburg, S.C. for 2005. A pair of local schools – Lawrence Academy and Ridgecroft School – made the state tournament a year ago. Ridgecroft advanced to the Final Four.

Also making a change will be United Faith Christian Academy and Word of God Christian Academy. Both schools were accepted as members of the NCISAA on a probationary one-year period.

United Faith has been assigned to the Southern Piedmont Athletic Association (SPAA) while Word of God has been assigned to the Southeastern Independent Conference (SEIC).

Another change will be selecting and seeding the NCISAA playoffs for the upcoming year. The Board of managers voted to prioritize seeding criteria.

According to the rule adopted this summer, the following will determine seeding and selection: in order, they will be, head-to-head results, common opponent, strength of schedule, late season performance and conference finish.

When they are selected and seeded, this year’s NCISAA basketball playoffs will be held in the Greensboro area.

The 1-A playoffs will be at Wesleyan Academy while the 2-A will be Forsyth Country Day and the 3-A will play at Greensboro Day School. The finals for all three classes will be at Greensboro Day School.