Volleyball state tournament matches will be extended from a best-of-three format to a best-of-five, after the proposed change was approved yesterday by the Hawai'i High School Athletic Association's executive board.

The change — effective in championship bracket matches only — will bring Hawai'i in line with the college game and most of the nation, where 40 of the 47 states that have state tournaments reportedly play best-of-five.

"I think it's good, it's a good step," said Kamehameha girls coach Chris Blake, whose Warriors have won the past three Division I state championships and finished last season ranked No. 3 in the nation by www.prepvolleyball.com. "The extra game makes a big difference. It'll take some adjustments, but I think the coaches will welcome it. I was talking to a lot of (Mainland) coaches at the Durango (Invitational in Las Vegas), and they were surprised we still play only two out of three."

Three of the state's five leagues — the Big Island Interscholastic Federation, Kaua'i Interscholastic Federation and Maui Interscholastic League — already use the best-of-five format for their regular season, and the Interscholastic League of Honolulu has played best-of-five matches in the recent past.

"It's not like it's a foreign concept," said HHSAA executive director Keith Amemiya, who submitted the proposal which was approved at the Hawai'i Interscholastic Athletic Directors' Association conference Saturday.

The only league to object was the O'ahu Interscholastic Association, which was denied a request to amend the proposal by delaying the change for one year.

OIA executive director Dwight Toyama said his league was concerned about increased costs for officials and special duty police, who may charge more for the lengthier matches.

"We have over 200 varsity games, and if the officials ask for raises, then we're not ready for it financially, we don't have the resources," Toyama said. "The only way we can afford it is to raise (ticket prices), and we don't want to do it now when everybody's taking a hit."

ILH president Rich Schaffer suggested playing regular-season matches with a best-of-three format and then switching to best-of-five for the league playoffs, which is what the ILH did a few years ago.

In another HHSAA executive board action yesterday, a proposal to require a minimum of three teams in a league to be eligible for one state tournament berth was rejected. The proposal, approved at the HIADA conference, addressed cases this past school year where an ILH team was the only Division II squad in the league, guaranteeing it a DII state berth.

The OIA voted in favor of the proposal at the HIADA general assembly Saturday, but reversed course in yesterday's vote.

"We didn't have enough time to fully discuss it among ourselves before (Saturday's vote)," Toyama said. "But some principals and ADs talked to me afterward, and we always stand by the formula (allowing at least one berth per league)."

BIIF executive director Ken Yamase said his league had concerns about teams shifting to the point where only one team was left in a division.

But Toyama said he trusts the leagues not to manipulate their classification for the purpose of gaining state tournament berths.

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