PROVO — Player eligibility has reared its head again in NCAA men's volleyball, with top-ranked BYU the latest powerhouse program to draw the attention of NCAA investigators.
Victor Batista, the Cougars' 24-year-old middle blocker from the Dominican Republic, sat out both of BYU's recent matches at UCLA. Cougar coach Tom Peterson and BYU associate athletic director Brian Santiago called it "a precaution" while the NCAA looks into Batista's standing as an amateur student-athlete.
"After they talked to me . . . well, I don't know what to think," said Peterson of Batista's status when contacted at home Saturday afternoon. He declined to comment, citing the NCAA's investigation.
Batista was one of two Cougar players called to the NCAA's attention by UC Santa Barbara coach Ken Preston and others with eligibility concerns.
BYU also was accused of having a sixth-year player in Joe Hillman, a 27-year-old senior opposite hitter from Las Vegas.
Hillman played four years in the Utah Valley State College club program, earning multiple-year all-conference, all-tournament and NCCA all-America honors at UVSC. He also served a two-year LDS Church mission to Missouri.
Hillman was cleared to play in the UCLA matches after the NCAA ruled that since UVSC doesn't offer men's volleyball as an intercollegiate varsity sport, only the seasons after his 21st birthday count as NCAA-eligible seasons.
He played in the Thursday and Friday matches, with Bruins fans chanting "six more years" and "27."
The BYU media guide cites Batista as a six-year member of Club Tamayo, attending Gomez high school and being pre-selected to the Dominican Republic's national team.
UCLA coach Al Scates, a critic of foreign players in NCAA men's volleyball, echoed the concerns of UCSB's Preston regarding Hillman and Batista.
"I had heard a lot of Dominicans had been playing abroad professionally under assumed names," Scates told the UCLA Bruin.
Opponents point to the fact that BYU is trying to bend rules, listing Batista first as a freshman at the start of the season and later as a sophomore and purposefully keeping his and other teammates' birthdates out of the Cougars' media guide.
However, the media guide doesn't list a number of players' birthdates — including foreign and U.S. players.
The two previous NCAA men's volleyball champions — Hawaii and Lewis — have fallen under NCAA radar regarding player eligibility. Hawaii had its 2002 title stripped as the NCAA determined that standout Costas Theocharidis had played on a professional team in his native Greece, while Lewis — which beat BYU in the 2003 title match in a five-game thriller to become the first Div. II team to win a Div. I volleyball crown — self-reported eligibility concerns this season to the NCAA, with no decision or sanction announced as of yet.
In appealing the sanction against the Warriors, Hawaii administrators told the Honolulu Star-Bulletin that while Theocharidis did play with pros, he did not sign a contract, have an agent or receive money.
Two Lewis all-Americans — Brazilian setter J.R. Martins and Mexican outside hitter Gustavo Meyer — have sat out the season under eligibility concerns.
Hawaii coach Mike Wilton, another who has looked at BYU's roster with raised eyebrows, is worried about the stain of ongoing eligibility investigations as the No. 1 Cougars conclude the regular season this week and prepare for postseason tournaments.
"If they (the NCAA) don't fast-track this and BYU goes on to win the championship, then has it pulled, that would make three years in a row the title is in question," he told the Star-Bulletin. "The last thing they need is for this to happen again."
Peterson declined to discuss possible scenarios should Batista be found ineligible — such as forfeitures of matches in which Batista played and how that might affect the Cougars' ranking in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation standings, seeding in the MPSF tournament or involvement in the 2004 NCAA Championships, scheduled for early May in Honolulu.
Hawaii officials are hopeful the NCAA's delay in the UH appeal, and a Lewis decision suggests that the association is looking to refine its rules regarding amateurism for all sports. An amateur golfer retains his status while being allowed to play in pro-ams or receive a sponsor's exemption to tournaments.
Without Batista, top-ranked BYU still won its school-record 21st consecutive match Thursday against No. 3 UCLA, only the Cougars' third victory ever over the Bruins at Pauley Pavilion. The victory clinched homecourt advantage throughout the MPSF tournament for the Cougars.
Friday, BYU won the first two games but lost the final three in suffering a 3-2 defeat at UCLA — the Cougars' first loss since Jan. 17 and only their fourth of the season.
E-mail: taylor@desnews.com