Beachside volleyball year ends in tiebreaker controversy. What happened?

Beachside volleyball coaches and fans are voicing their frustration after the Florida High School Athletic Association's tiebreaker formula excluded the Barracudas from the final four of the inaugural Open Division in spite of their Oct. 28 victory against Naples First Baptist.Instead, Clearwater Calvary Christian and Tampa Plant emerged as the two teams from Pool B for the semifinals in Winter Haven. Both schools, along with Beachside, finished with identical 2-1 records in the round-robin format, which also included First Baptist (0-3).How did it happen? Watch Florida high school volleyball live on NFHS NetworkWhat is the FHSAA volleyball Open Division?In June 2026, the FHSAA board of directors voted to implement the Open Division — an eight-team super tournament with the eight highest-ranked teams statewide following the district tournaments — for team sports statewide beginning in the 2026-27 school year.The board had announced Open Division plans in June 2024, but scheduled a two-year preparation period before actually activating the new division.At the end of the district tournaments, the FHSAA pulls the eight highest-ranked teams out of their respective regional tournaments (the next-highest ranked teams in those regions take their place) and assigns them to the Open Division. The Open Division then holds its matches on the same dates as the standard regional tournaments.How is the FHSAA Open Division structured?The FHSAA's Open Division divides those eight teams into two groups of four, Pool A and Pool B. Pool A contains the teams ranked first, fourth, fifth and eighth in the FHSAA ranking system, while Pool B contains the teams ranked second, third, sixth and seventh.As the sixth-ranked team in the FHSAA's formula after the district tournaments, Beachside was placed in Pool B alongside Calvary Christian (No. 2), Plant (No. 3) and First Baptist (No. 7). Under FHSAA rules, the top two finishers in each group advance to the semifinals in Winter Haven, where the Pool A winner meets the Pool B runner-up and the Pool B winner competes against the Pool A runner-up.What happened in the FHSAA Pool B matches?Beachside, Calvary Christian and Plant all defeated First Baptist, but their own matches were deadlocked. Beachside defeated Calvary Christian on Oct. 21, Plant defeated Beachside on Oct. 24 and Calvary Christian defeated Plant on Oct. 28.That left those three teams tied at 2-1, with only the top two advancing to the state semifinals.What are the FHSAA tiebreaker procedures for volleyball?Here, the situation became even more complicated.In June, when the FHSAA formally approved the Open Division, the association listed its primary three-team tiebreaker as points allowed among tied teams only. This was the same tiebreaker the FHSAA installed for other team sports such as basketball and soccer, but its use in volleyball drew criticism from multiple coaches. Applied to volleyball, the provision in effect made a loss by three-set sweep more advantageous than a five-set battle to the finish.In response to these questions, an Oct. 26 letter from FHSAA administrator Scott Jamison said, the association intended to "look at the average points allowed per set for sets 1-4 amongst the tied teams." A day later, the proposed tiebreaker appeared to change again. An Oct. 27 e-mail from the FHSAA, received by the Beachside athletic department, said the association would now designate its tiebreaker as the set winning percentage within the Open Division matches.During these discussions, however, the FHSAA's website did not remove the points allowed from its listing of primary tiebreakers. The FHSAA board of directors, due to hold its next meeting Nov. 1-2 in Gainesville, also took no action.Set percentage is a widely accepted standard method of breaking a three-team tie in volleyball, used by USA Volleyball, the California Interscholastic Federation and some college conferences. However, rather than applying the set percentage all the way across the tied teams, the FHSAA would apply the tiebreaker only to determine the first-place finisher in the three-team tie. Once the FHSAA identified the highest-placed team on set percentage, the association would use head-to-head between the two remaining teams to choose the second-place finisher.What was the new tiebreaker's result?Based on the set percentage tiebreaker, Calvary Christian placed first, winning 8 of its 12 sets (2-3 loss to Beachside, 3-0 win over First Baptist, 3-1 win over Plant). That earned the Clearwater school the top spot in Pool B.Had the FHSAA applied set percentage to each position in the group, Beachside would have held the edge. Beachside won 8 of 14 sets for a .571 percentage (3-2 win over Calvary Christian, 3-2 loss to Plant, 3-1 win over First Baptist), while Plant won 7 of 13, or .538 (3-1 win over First Baptist, 3-2 win over Beachside, 3-1 loss to Calvary Christian).But because the FHSAA used head-to-head ranking as its second tiebreaker, Plant advanced to the knockout stage, because of its victory over Beachside on Oct. 24.What happens next for Beachside?For Beachside (26-4), whose season came to a close despite defeating First Baptist in four sets on Oct. 28, the exit has sparked anger, frustration and bewilderment, even as the team also celebrates its most successful season in history.As Beachside athletic director Jen Harman noted, the two-step tiebreaker formula could create bizarre incentives. Although Plant did not do this, the Tampa school theoretically could have qualified automatically by committing 75 consecutive faults for a 25-0, 25-0, 25-0 loss, which would have given Calvary Christian an automatic first place while securing second place for Plant due to their prior head-to-head result over Beachside. But if Plant lost to Calvary Christian in five, the Tampa school potentially could have suffered elimination. Beachside head coach Austin Lanteigne said he doesn't want the tiebreaker hubbub to detract from the Barracudas' achievements."If you would have told our girls in June that we would go 2-1 in the Open Division, we would have been happy," Lanteigne said after Wednesday's match.Unfortunately for the Barracudas, 2-1 in the Open Division wasn't enough to clear the tiebreaker.Wednesday's home victory ended the high school careers for six Beachside senior standouts: Vinessa Rafael, Isabella Taveras Seda, Mollie VanDeusen, Lillian Jimenez, Leanna Deutou and Maya Bell. The senior class compiled a record of 93-18 during the past four years.It's not immediately clear whether the FHSAA will revisit its tiebreaking procedure for the 2027 volleyball season.This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Beachside volleyball year ends in tiebreaker controversy. What happened?Our editors independently choose our recommendations. Some content is produced with paid support from a third party, however our editorial decisions remain independent. If you buy through our links, the USA TODAY Network may earn a commission. Prices and availability may change.