Over the past two seasons, collegiate volleyball has changed some rules altering the fundamental structure of the way its game is played.

This year's advent of the libero position -- a player who is allowed to substitute for any player in the back row but is not allowed to serve or attack -- is one example.

But the rule change that might have most affected the competitive parity of the game is the institution of rally scoring.

"Rally scoring is a different game," Penn State women's volleyball coach Russ Rose said.

"It's still volleyball, but it's a different game."

Simply speaking, rally scoring is awarding points to a team both while it is serving as well as while it is not serving. Therefore, the extra points available changed each game to a first-to-30 format.

"You have to be more alert with rally scoring," freshman setter Sam Tortorello said.

Rally scoring can have two unintentional effects on matches. One, it makes it very difficult for a team that falls behind early or is facing multiple match points to come back.

"There is no margin for error," sophomore defensive specialist Emily Gregera said.

Perhaps because of the fact that it is much harder to make a sustained run, a superior team cannot run away from a weaker team the way it could in the past. Thus, more parity reigns.

"Sometimes you can win without earning it a lot," Rose said. "There's a lot more examples this year of a team winning the statistical war and losing the match."

Look no further than last Saturday's Nittany Lion loss to Wisconsin. Penn State out-hit the Badgers .314 to .218 and won the blocking battle 20-5.

"The rally score game is a very interesting event," Rose said. "You can out-hit someone and you can out-block them and still find a way to lose."

Blocking the competition

The Lions enjoyed their best blocking weekend of the season, recording a 16-4 advantage in a win over Northwestern Friday night in addition to the performance against Wisconsin. Both were season highs at the time.

"I thought we blocked really well," Rose said. "But everyone has the tapes of those matches, and they will look to see what we did well to try and thwart us."

Penn State has now recorded more blocks than its opponent in each of the last 12 matches. For the season, the Lions are averaging 3.3 blocks per game and allowing 1.8.

"We need to block well if we are going to be able to win," sophomore outside hitter Syndie Nadeau said.

Putting on the red shirt

Rose has said that freshmen Kim Holm, a 6-foot-1 middle hitter, and Emily Guman, a setter from Allentown and sophomore outside hitter Jennifer Amobi will be redshirted this season.

"I think that's three players in the future who will make good contributions," Rose said.

"We have a lot of youth on this team."

Holm and Guman were part of what was a consensus top-five national recruiting class, but Amobi may be the most intriguing of the three. The transfer from Marquette was named to the Conference USA all-freshman team last year and may in fact be the hardest pure hitter on the Penn State team.

"Those are three kids who in the future are going to get better and hopefully they are picking up the things they need to pick up so that they can make valuable contributions for us in the future," Rose said.