When looking at the current tournament seeds from western Massachusetts on the PVIAC website, multiple schools’ teams are highlighted in yellow.

Why? As of last week, those teams were deemed ineligible for the Western Mass. tournament, though a resolution was reached on Wednesday by the MIAA and the PVIAC.

How this all came to be is due to a minor clerical issue. Here’s the short of it: athletic directors around the state were told to have their fall schedules finalized on Arbiter.com by Sept. 13.

Since 2021, the MIAA shifted its state tournament process to a full, statewide tournament. Previously, the state tournament was a four team ordeal, played by the winners of the North, South, Central and West regions in each division.

Still, the PVIAC kept the Western Mass. tournament alive though it is not recognized by the MIAA. Thus, the games played in the Western Mass. tournament count as ordinary regular season games toward teams’ state tournament rankings.

Here’s where the clerical issue occurred: with the opponent, location, day and time not finalized for Western Mass. tournament games until the weekend before (this year, the Western Mass. tournament kicks off on a later date and the official bracket not released until days before), athletic directors were supposed to put in placeholder TBA dates into Arbiter to cover for Western Mass. tournament games, even if the game does not actually end up taking place on that day.

Schools that did not have those placeholder games put into Arbiter before the Sept. 13 date were deemed ineligible for the Western Mass. tournament by PVIAC. Those schools included Mohawk Trail, Pioneer, Northampton, Minnechaug, Lenox, Lee, Hopkins and every Springfield school.

“Schedules for regular season contests are subject to the rules set forth by the membership of the MIAA,” the MIAA and PVIAC said in a joint statement released on Wednesday. “As such, all games must be on a school’s official schedule by the schedule commitment date. Based on the timeline approved by the Board of Directors in May 2024, schedule data was published for review on Tuesday, September 10th and finalized with a schedule commitment deadline on Friday, September 13th. Beginning in May, no fewer than seven reminders were sent to member schools in Western Massachusetts; some coming from the MIAA office in various forms (emails and Executive Director Updates) and some coming from athletic directors in Western Mass. In short, if a game is not on a schedule as of Friday, September 13th, it cannot be played. This policy has been in place for more than 20 years so teams cannot manipulate schedules as seasons progress.

Despite everyone’s best intentions, and the vast majority of schools including dates for the annual PVIAC/Western Mass. tournament on their schedules as advised, several schools omitted those dates,” the statement continued. “Included in this data is the oddity that some schools listed TBA dates for Western Mass. tournament games in one sport but omitted them in another, all within the same school.”

A resolution was reached on Wednesday, however. The MIAA and PVIAC jointly agreed that all teams that qualify for the Western Mass. tournament can participate, but there’s a catch.

While the scheduling issue will not affect the Western Mass. tournament, it can affect the state tournament. Here’s the solution the MIAA and PVIAC came up with for Western Mass. tournament games in regards to how they will be scored toward state tournament rankings:

If teams A and B did not put the PVIAC/Western Mass. Tournament games on their original schedules and Teams C and D did put the PVIAC/Western Mass. Tournament games on their original schedules, here’s what would happen:

A game between Team A and Team B would be recorded as a “No Contest” while a game between Team C vs. Team D will be recorded as scheduled with the result. If Team A/B plays Team C/D, Team C/D would receive a forfeit victory, no matter the result of the game, while Team A/B records a forfeit loss.

Here’s the simpler way to look at it: The Mohawk Trail volleyball team is currently the No. 2 ranked team in the Western Mass. Class D field. It would still be able to still play its game against Ware, the current No. 7 seed. If Mohawk Trail were to win the match, it would still count as a forfeit loss toward its state tournament ranking while Ware would receive a forfeit win.

Mohawk Trail would then move over to the semifinals of the Western Mass. tournament despite it counting as a loss on their record. If the Warriors were to play Lee, another school that did not input TBA games, in the tournament, it would just be recorded as a no contest toward tournament rankings.

The punishment is how it would affect seeding in the state tournament. Mohawk Trail, the current No. 12 ranked team in the Div. 5 field, would likely suffer a major drop in its ranking if it fell to Ware, the No. 63 ranked team, by forfeit loss.

“This week, the MIAA collaborated with members of the leadership team from the PVIAC to understand the missteps taken by some Western Mass. schools,” the statement said. “In an effort to celebrate this long-standing tradition of the PVIAC/Western Mass. Tournament and to work collectively with our member schools, the MIAA and the PVIAC have jointly agreed that all teams that qualify for the Western Mass. tournament can participate. Although the schedule omissions will not affect the PVIAC/Western Mass. tournament, they may affect the overall power ranking and record of teams vying for participation in the MIAA State Tournament.”

“We are pleased that the MIAA took a leadership role in this to solve an unfortunate challenge presented to some Western Mass. schools,” said Jim Blain, Chair of the PVIAC, in the statement.