Tennis Regulations

Tennis Regulations

Note--Except in the case of emergencies or approval by the conference office, changes to sport regulations by sport committees must be proposed no later than 30 days prior to conference meetings, and approved by the Advisory Board prior to the start of each subsequent season--May meetings for Fall sports, October meetings for Winter sports, January meetings for Spring sports.   (Updated October 2025)

These regulations are mandatory for all PacWest championship Matches.

SECTION 1.0 PLAYING SEASON AND SCHEDULING

1.1 Schedules shall be proposed by the conference office to the Scheduling Committee and approved by the athletic directors; the schedule shall include the designated number of conference games. These matches must be scheduled by the institutions using the approved home/away designation. (Updated May 2026).

1.1.1 Should two institutions agree to change home/away designations, future rotations will not be affected. (Updated May 2026).

1.1.1.1 Dates and times for matches are at the discretion of the institution, so long as all matches are played in accordance with the NCAA Bylaw 17 and a member institution concludes conference competition in tennis in the championship segment by end of day on the Saturday prior to the conference championship. (Updated May 2026).

1.1.1.1.1 A team's failure to complete a conference date of competition will result in a forfeit; the team receiving the forfeit is at the discretion of the Commissioner. (Updated May 2026).

1.1.2  For teams that schedule multiple contests against another PacWest team, you must designate which contest will be part of the "conference schedule" to be used in conference standings and tournament qualification/seeding prior to the start of the season. (Updated May 2026).

1.1.3 One USTA (or ITA) certified referee must be present at all conference matches. (Updated January 2014 and June 2015.)

1.1.4 All regular season matches shall use the DII scoring system established in the ITA rules and used by all NCAA divisions. (Updated October 2018)

1.1.4.1 All regular season matches shall utilize the "clinch-play" system with the final score compiled accordingly. (Updated January 2022)

1.1.4.2 (Due to the new scoring system), there shall be no formal line-up introductions/ on-court introduction ceremonies prior to the start of non-conference matches between conference opponents. (Updated January 2019)

1.1.5 In regular season matches, a new can of balls shall be opened and used after each set. (Updated January 2020)

SECTION 2.0 GAME MANAGEMENT/CONDITIONS OF COMPETITION

2.1 Communication for the date, time, and site for the pre-tournament coaches meeting will be the responsibility of the conference office. The date, time, and site for the coaches meeting should be provided to the other head coaches and the conference commissioner no later than two weeks prior to the meeting. The conference office should also invite the head official and event manager to the meeting. Attendance by all head coaches (or their designated representative) to this annual coaches meeting, plus the conference Commissioner (or conference office designee), is mandatory. (Updated May 2015)

2.2 The Conference Championship shall be a consecutive three-day event with teams playing one dual-match each day, unless they receive a bye. (Updated May 2025)

2.3 Team Match structure for the conference championships is three doubles matches (6-game pro-sets with a tiebreak played at 6 games each) followed by six singles matches (two-out-of-three tiebreak sets). (Updated October 2018)

2.3.1 All conference championship matches shall use the scoring system established in the ITA rules and used by all NCAA divisions. (Updated October 2018)

2.3.2 All conference championship matches shall begin with an on-court formal line-up introduction by opposing coaches 10 minutes prior to the match. The teams may resume their warm-ups after the introduction. (Updated December 2017)

2.4 Doubles Play at the conference championships will be stopped when one team has clinched the lone doubles point by winning two of the three doubles matches. (The third doubles match, if in progress, shall cease, as necessary). (Updated October 2018)

2.4.1 All dual matches at the conference championships shall be played to "clinch" -- i.e. each match shall conclude when one team has earned a total of four points. (Updated October 2018)

2.5 Head coaches will turn in their proposed line-ups prior to the pre-tournament coaches meeting in a manner prescribed by the conference office, based on a similar procedure used at the NCAA championships. (Updated May 2015)

2.5.1 The Tournament Committee shall review the lineups and determine whether there are any challenges, and deal with them appropriately.

2.5.2 The Tournament Committee has the right to review the season lineup order of teams whose lineups are challenged, and deal with appropriately.

2.5.3 The Tournament Committee has the final word.

2.6 The Pacific West Conference Men's Tennis Championship features a six-team tournament in which teams are seeded #1 through #6 based on their regular season-finish. The Pacific West Conference Women's Tennis Championship features an eight-team tournament in which teams are seeded #1 through #8 based on their regular-season finish. (Updated May 2026)

2.6.1 The top two seeds in the men’s tournament receive first-round byes into the semifinals. The remaining four men’s teams compete in the opening round, with the winners advancing to face the top two seeds in the semifinals. The women’s tournament begins with four quarterfinal matches, pairing the highest seed with the lowest seed (#1 vs. #8, #2 vs. #7, #3 vs. #6, and #4 vs. #5). The winners advance to the championship semifinals, with the semifinal winners moving on to compete for the conference title. The semifinal losers face each other in the third-place match. (Updated May 2026)

2.6.2 The winners of the men’s semifinal matches advance to the championship match to compete for the conference title. The men’s semifinal losers play in the third-place match. The men’s teams that lose in the opening round are not eliminated from competition. Instead, they compete in a consolation match, with the winner earning fifth place and the loser finishing in sixth place. The women’s teams that lose in the quarterfinals continue competing in a consolation bracket rather than being eliminated. The women’s consolation bracket determines the remaining tournament placements, with teams competing for fifth and seventh place. (Updated May 2026)

SECTION 3.0 CHAMPIONSHIPS

3.1 The winner of the PacWest Championship shall be declared the PacWest Champion and earn the automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament. 

3.1.1 All PacWest institutions sponsoring the sport may participate in the conference tournament. A school currently in the NCAA DII Membership process is also eligible to participate in the conference tournament. The winner of the conference tournament shall be declared the PacWest Tournament Champion and earn the Automatic Qualifier to the NCAA Championships. (If an AQ Replacement Team is necessary, then the Replacement Team shall be the runner-up in the conference tournament, but if the regular season champion does not win the conference tournament, then the conference regular season champion shall be designated as the AQ Replacement Team).(Updated October 2023)

3.1.2 The rotation for helping host the conference championship tournament shall rotate between the three regional pods (i.e. Hawai'i, San Francisco Bay Area/Northern Calif , Southern California) with host schools recommended by the conference office and approved by the Advisory Board. The affiliate members may also be assigned to rotate as a co-host of the championships, as recommended by the conference office and approved by the Advisory Board. See Appendix A of the PacWest Conference Operations Code. (Updated October 2018)

3.1.3 The site of the conference championships shall be recommended by the conference office with input from the tennis sports committees and must be approved by the Advisory Board.  (Updated October 2018)

3.2 The date for the tournament should be held as close to the third week of April as possible, so as not to conflict with finals, and must be approved by the Advisory Board. The conference and host school shall be responsible for securing a reputable site (approved by the Commissioner), for providing manpower for tournament administration, for providing a certified athletic trainer, for providing a sports information person, and for securing and paying appropriate officials' fees. The conference office will work with the host school when the championships are held at a neutral site.

3.3 The field for the PacWest Men's Tennis Championships shall be limited to 6 member institutions and the field for the PacWest Women's Tennis Championships shall be limited to 8 member institutions. (Updated May 2025)

3.3.1 The selection date for the conference championships shall be the second Monday of April when the championships begin on or after the 15th of April. If the conference championships begin during the second or third week of April, then the selection date for qualification shall be the first Monday of April. (Updated May 2016)

3.3.2 Qualification and final seeding will be determined using the results of the conference schedule. (Updated May 2026). The final seeding order shall be determined no later than the Sunday prior to the conference tournament. 

3.4 A Tournament Championships Committee is made up of the following individuals: (Updated October 2022)

  • Athletic Director (or designated administrator from the host school)

  • Conference Commissioner (or conference office designee)

  • Tennis Committee Administrator 

  • Conference Administrator (if necessary)

  • The head referee (if necessary)

The responsibilities of the Tournament Championships Committee shall be to settle all disputes not settled by the head referee, plus seeding review, line-up review, and other administrative responsibilities.

3.5 At least one certified referee per match is necessary for the first days of the PacWest Championships tournament.  At least three officials shall be used for the championship match. (Updated October 2022)

3.6 Host School administrator must be on site for the duration of the championship tournament.

SECTION 4.0 EQUIPMENT

4.1 The official ball used for all conference games shall be the official ball of NCAA Championships. (Updated May 2022)

SECTION 5.0 OFFICIALS

5.1 One certified referee (having passed the ITA Collegiate Referee's exam) shall be present at all matches. Three certified referees shall be used for the Conference Championship match.

5.1.1 The conference office shall be responsible for securing a qualified tennis official assignor to provide officials for the conference championships. The conference office shall pay all officiating fees for the conference championships. (Updated October 2018)

5.1.2 One USTA certified referee must be present at all non-conference matches between conference opponents. Home school is responsible for providing and payment of officials. (Updated January 2014)

SECTION 6.0 AMPLIFIERS, NOISEMAKERS AND OTHER SOUND GENERATING DEVICES

6.1 Artificial noisemakers, air horns or electronic amplifiers shall not be permitted, and such instruments shall be removed from the playing and spectator areas.

SECTION 7.0 SPORTS INFORMATION REQUIREMENTS

SECTION 8.0 SPORTS MEDICINE REQUIREMENTS

8.1 At least one certified athletic trainer (provided by the host school or the conference office, as necessary) will be on site for all championship tournament matches. (Updated October 2018)

SECTION 9.0 AWARDS

9.1 All-conference award selection will be determined by a system established by the Assistant Commissioner - Strategic Positioning and/or Sports Communications Director, based on input from the coaches, sports information directors, and the ITA regional rankings. The top six individual players and top three doubles teams in the rankings will be named all-conference, and all other ranked players not named will be accorded honorable mention all-conference honors.

9.2 The Conference Commissioner (or conference office designee) shall be responsible for handing out appropriate team and individual award plaques at the conclusion of the championship tournament. A plaque for the championship team, the tournament's most valuable player, and tournament's individual sportsmanship winner will be awarded after the championship match. Coaches will nominate and vote on the most valuable player and the sportsmanship award.

SECTION 10.0 TOBACCO USAGE

10.1 Tobacco usage by athletes, coaches, officials and event staff is strictly prohibited at all PacWest athletic events, including practice sessions.

10.2 Violators are subject to contest suspension for each offense. Following a team's first offense, head coaches in addition to the violator are subject to suspension for each additional offense.

SECTION 11.0 COACHES MEETINGS

There shall be at least two meetings of the coaches annually, one prior to the season and one after the season. The site, date, and time of these mandatory meetings must be communicated to all coaches and administrators at least two weeks prior to the meeting.

SECTION 12.0 ITEMS NOT COVERED

Items not covered in conference regulations shall adhere to NCAA rules and regulations.  The Conference office shall have the authority to levy fines or other penalties deemed appropriate for violations of sport regulation. Such penalties shall be appealable to the Committee on Appeals.