![Be the Referee](/sites/default/files/2022-11/221115_referee_2H.jpg)
Be the Referee: Back Row Illegal Blocker
By
Sam Davis
MHSAA Director of Officials
November 15, 2022
Be The Referee is a series of short messages designed to help educate people on the rules of different sports, to help them better understand the art of officiating, and to recruit officials.
Below is this week's segment – Back Row Illegal Blocker - Listen
We’re on the volleyball court today where Team A’s back-row setter is in the front zone near the net and jumps to try to make the team’s second contact. The ball enters the plane of the net where Team A’s back-row setter and Team B’s front row player simultaneously touch the ball above the top of the net. What’s the call?
Illegal block on Team A’s back-row setter.
A back-row player attempting to play a ball in the space directly above the net is considered an illegal blocker if the ball is attacked or blocked by an opponent into the back-row player while reaching above the height of the net.
Team B would receive a point and would be next to serve.
Previous Editions:
Nov. 4: Swim Turn Judges - Listen
Oct. 25: Soccer Referee Jersey Colors - Listen
Oct. 18: Cross Country Tie-Breaker - Listen
Oct. 11: Soccer Shootouts - Listen
Oct. 11: Safety in End Zone - Listen
Oct. 4: Football Overtime Penalty - Listen
Sept. 27: Kickoff Goal - Listen
Sept. 20: Soccer Timing - Listen
Sept. 13: Volleyball Replays - Listen
Sept. 6: Switching Sides - Listen
Aug. 30: Play Clock - Listen
Aug. 23: Intentional Grounding Change - Listen
![Randi Kettlewell - Marysville](/sites/default/files/2021-11/211123_TitleIX_2H.png)
Title IX at 50: Marysville Builds Winning Streak Yet to be Challenged
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
November 23, 2021
This weekend wrapped up a season that saw two of the most dominating team performances in nearly a half-century of MHSAA volleyball – Bloomfield Hills Marian and Pontiac Notre Dame were Finals champions, both finishing their seasons with only one loss. Over the previous decade, only one team did one better – the 2015 Ann Arbor Father Gabriel Richard team finished a perfect 41-0.
All of that provides just a little more context to an accomplishment that really doesn’t need too much – the 192-match win streak built by Marysville from Dec. 10, 1996 through Jan. 15, 2000.
After losing in a Lower Peninsula Class B Semifinal that previous March – when volleyball was still a winter sport – Marysville opened the 1996-97 season with a victory and didn’t lose or draw again until falling to Flint Carman-Ainsworth during the Birch Run Invitational on Jan. 15, 2000.
The sport has changed plenty in Michigan over the last 20 years, from when it’s played to how it’s played. But the streak is incredible in any era – the next longest in volleyball is 98 straight wins by Flint Kearsley during the 1984-85 seasons. Only Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern – with 92 straight wins from Feb. 24, 2002 through March 15, 2003 – has broken 90 since Marysville’s incredible run.
This also was only party of Marysville's marvelous story at the turn of the century. The front of this run made up part of a streak of eight straight Finals championships from 1997-2004, a record as well until Battle Creek St. Philip won nine straight from Winter 2007-2014.
Second Half's weekly Title IX Celebration posts are sponsored by Michigan Army National Guard.
Previous Title IX at 50 Spotlights
Nov. 16: Wroubel Has Championed Girls School Sports from Their Start - Read
Nov. 9: Pioneer's Joyce Legendary in Michigan, National Swim History - Read
Nov. 2: Royal Oak's Finch Leading Way on Football Field - Read
Oct. 26: Coach Clegg Sets Championship Standard at Grand Blanc - Read
Oct. 19: Rockford Girls Set Pace, Hundreds After Have Continued to Chase - Read
Oct. 12: Bedford Volleyball Pioneer Continues Blazing Record-Setting Trail - Read
Oct. 5: Warner Paved Way to Legend Status with Record Rounds - Read
Sept. 28: Taylor Kennedy Gymnasts Earn Fame as 1st Champions - Read
Sept. 21: Portage Northern Star Byington Becomes Play-by-Play Pioneer - Read
Sept. 14: Guerra/Groat Legacy Continues to Serve St. Philip Well - Read
Sept. 7: Best-Ever Conversation Must Include Leland's Glass - Read
Aug. 31: We Will Celebrate Many Who Paved the Way - Read
PHOTO Marysville's Randi Kettlewell (12) drives a kill attempt against Stevensville Lakeshore during the 1999 Class B Final. (MHSAA file photo.)