Four days after the Dove Creek volleyball team’s loss to Fleming in the semifinals of the Colorado 1A state volleyball tournament, it appears as if a scoring error may have cost the Bulldogs.
The error appears to have occurred late in the second set with the Bulldogs leading 19-18.
After a Fleming spike sailed long, officials failed to award Dove Creek a point and the score remained 19-18.
The Bulldogs were then awarded a point following a Fleming hitting error, which brought the official scoreboard to 20-18.
A Fleming kill brought the scoreboard to 20-19, at which point play was stopped and officials huddled to discuss the score. Although the score should have read 21-19, officials ruled that the correct score was 20-20.
The Bulldogs then scored two consecutive points to move ahead 22-20 on the scoreboard. The score should have read 23-19 at that point.
Three straight points by Fleming put the Bulldogs behind 22-23 on the scoreboard even though the score should have favored the Bulldogs 23-22.
Two straight points by the Bulldogs should have secured a 25-22 set victory, but instead, the scoreboard read 24-23 in favor of Dove Creek.
Fleming then scored three straight points to win the set 26-24.
Fleming subsequently won the third to secure a 25-18, 26-24, 25-17 match victory in route to a win in the 1A state championship.
“I feel bad for the girls,” said Bulldogs’ head coach Scott Knuckles, discussing the scoring error. “With things tied up at 1-1, that could have made the difference.”
“As a coach and fan, you assume that everyone is doing their job up there,” added Knuckles. “That’s not always the case and people make mistakes.”
While Knuckles admitted that it would be difficult to correct the mistake, he said that he hopes that recognition of the error will prevent similar calamities in the future.
“I hope it can be used as a learning experience,” said Knuckles.
When contacted for comment, Colorado High School Activities Association Assistant Commissioners Bert Borgmann and Bethany Brookens insisted that even if a scoring error did occur, rectifying the error is now impossible.
“Once an official makes a decision and a game is complete, the scoreboard is official and the match ends,” said Brookens.
“We’re talking about high school sports,” added Borgmann. “We know that mistakes can be made, but every high school rule book says that when there is a mistake in a game, it has to be addressed at that time or it moves on.”
When asked about the possibility of CHSAA officially apologizing to the Bulldogs, Brookens responded, “An official apology or anything of that nature would have had to occur on site.”
Individuals interested in watching video of Dove Creek’s loss to Fleming can do so online at http://www.nfhsnetwork.com/events/74832.
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