Team Tennis Post Season Information

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Post Season

Playoff Information

Certification of District Representatives
District Chairmen will certify representatives. The last day for reporting the district certification is October 5, 2024 online here.

Representation

• The winners of first, second, third and fourth place in each district shall advance to the post-season.
• Each qualifying school may enter one team consisting of a minimum of six boys and six girls. Girls’ and boys’ point totals count on team totals, but boys and girls cannot compete against each other, other than the mixed doubles match.

Team Information and Pictures
Teams advancing to regionals must submit the following materials to the UIL no later than Wednesday, October 16, 2024:

• Team Information Form
• Team Photo Form

Playoff Reporting - Teams Advancing

Coaches are required to submit playoff results immediately following their contest. The winning school should submit playoff game results and next round information to the UIL office via this form.

Sites

Sites for all rounds of playoffs prior to the regional tournament are to be selected by the teams involved. See Section 1208 (o)(p) of the UIL Constitution and Contest Rules. If schools cannot agree, they must flip a coin.

• Home Sites: When two schools flip for two separate sites other than their home field or court, the sites are considered home sites unless both sites are near mid-point.
• Neutral Sites: A site mid-point or near mid-point, or a site agreed on by both schools as neutral, is a neutral site. Unless, mutually agreeable, a site cannot be neutral if its distance from either school is more than two-thirds the total distance between the two schools.
• Mid-point Sites: Unless mutually agreed otherwise, post-district contests shall be at mid-point site for schools located more than 100 miles apart.

Lineups

Lineup changes and movement within the players’ ladder is outlined in this section and each coach may use the options ONCE in a calendar week during the playoffs.
Exception: No lineup change is allowed between the regional semifinals and the regional finals, and state semifinals and state finals.

• Lineup Changes: The coach may change the lineup to reflect proper ladder position prior to the start of the match/tournament, based on the following regulations.
• Singles Movement on Ladder: After the previous qualifying match/tournament, the coach may move each player no more than one position up or down in the singles lineup
• Doubles Movement on Ladder: After the previous qualifying match/tournament, the coach may move each player no more than one position up or down in the doubles lineup. The coach may change a player from one doubles partner to another partner, but no player may move more than one position in the doubles lineup.

Substitutions

A coach may make substitutions between team matches and/or during a team match before the individual match begins. In all instances, the coach must use the following procedure.

• Singles: The coach removes a player from the lineup. All players lower in the lineup move up the fill the vacant spot in the lineup and the alternate becomes the #6 player.
• Doubles: If the coach removes a member of a doubles team from the line-up, he/she places the alternate in the vacated spot, and the team remains in the same position. If the coach removes both members of a doubles team, then the lower teams will move up to fill the vacant position, and the alternate pair becomes the #3 team.

District Tournaments

• Each district may choose a tournament format to determine representatives (i.e., single-elimination, round-robin or a combination).
• A district team tennis tournament will count as one of that school’s seven tournaments if there is a loss of school time.
• The winners of first, second, third, and fourth place in each district shall advance to the post-season. The district chairman will certify representatives.

Entries
Each school shall enter the district meet by certifying entries to the district director by the entry deadline set by the district executive committee. If a round-robin format is utilized in lieu of a district tournament, the district executive committee shall specify entry and team roster regulations prior to the entry deadline.

• If your program gains a new student or if a student loses/gains academic eligibility, we suggest you re-rank to reflect proper ladder position.
• A team tennis district that plays a round-robin district schedule should specify in the district minutes the rules and procedures for stating the line-up at the district tournament. Specifically, districts need to determine how to re-rank lineups when injuries occur or students become eligible/ineligible in district competition, etc. At no time during a round-robin district tournament can a line-up change occur, unless the District Executive Committee has specified line-up changes prior to the start of district play.
• Each District must decide on line-up procedures, weather postponed matches, and procedures for the entire district competition. The minutes of the District Executive Committee should outline all of this.
• Because of the increase in alleged line-up stacking—each district needs to clearly state that it is a violation and assess a penalty. Specifically, each district must decide:
  • Whether to replay an entire weather postponed match or to continue at the point of suspension.
  • Decide to play a round-robin, a district tournament or a combination.
  • Set line-up regulations. Can you change the line-up during the district season? Is the initial line-up turned in set for the entire district? If you play a district tournament at the end of your season, how are line-ups set?
  • Procedure to investigate/penalize a coach who is stacking the line-up.

State Tournament

State tournament entries shall be certified by the regional tournament director.

• Coaches must send the team information form and team photo form to the UIL once they reach post-district competition.
• Coaches should send their line-up as well.

Format
The state tournament, in each conference (4A, 5A, and 6A), will be a single-elimination tournament held in Waco for the four schools qualifying at the four regional tournaments. Conference 3A may compete for full honors in Conference 4A.

Pairings
The League office will determine the draw for the tournament. Pairings will be released on Monday morning prior to the tournament. The two teams with the best records will be placed in opposite brackets. The team with the third-best record will be placed up or down according to a coin flip. The remaining team will be placed in the empty bracket. The actual win/loss percentage will determine the ranking of the teams - not the strength or weakness of the playing schedule.