Stupid formatting question

OK guys, quick question.

My coworker and I disagree on everything related to formatting scores and anything not explicit in the AP Stylebook leads us to debate pointlessly.

So, the question involved reporting a volleyball score. In a story.

Here's the way one of us wants it introduced: The Podunk girls volleyball team defeated Bumfuck U 3-1 (25-20, 25-20, 20-25, 25-20) to improve to 2-0 on the season.
Here's the way the other one of us wants it introduced: The Podunk girls volleyball team defeated Bumfuck U 25-20, 25-20, 20-25, 25-20 to improve to 2-0 on the season.

The Stylebook says it's Option Two but is that just for agate or is that when writing as well?

 

My paper uses the second option. The bigger paper an hour south uses the first option, but the state's largest paper (not us) uses the second option as well.

Our argument is it is like tennis. You play sets in both sports (we don't say games because when you interview coaches and players, they'll say games when they meant match or contest).

You wouldn't say Federer defeated Roddick, 3-0 (6-0, 6-0, 6-0).

You'd say Federer defeated Roddick, 6-0, 6-0, 6-0.

 

Hmm. Makes sense. I guess it's just weird for me to see it that way.

 

Just like to point out that this argument has been going on for three years and no matter how many times I tell him and change it in his copy, schieza disagrees even though the Stylebook says I'm right.

 

I've changed it in my recent stories though. Just wanted a clarification. Now I have one.

Besides, I've always said I'm still a newbie on Stylebook issues and, as such, I won't be right on everything.

 

Just lead with, "The Podunk High volleyball team pulled off side outs and talked its way to a win over Podunk East on Wednesday."

 

A "newbie?"
You shouldn't be. This is shit you learn in college - and definitely should know after three-plus years at a paper.

 

Crap, I was going to say option 1 until I read that.

In that case, I'd probably try to break it up somehow. Team A defeated Team B in X games. Game scores were ...

Otherwise, that seems like an awful lot of numbers to put in an already long sentence.

 

For our roundup headers, I'll use Podunk 3, Bumfuck 1, because it fits on one line. Then I'll come back with the actual game scores in the first or second paragraph.

 

We use the first option. More accurately, since you have to win three games to win a match, we typically would write

For a time period that was, presumably, quite long - as long as I can remember - the whole event is called a match and each individual period is called a game (three games to 25 win the match). We still use that, much like many people use I-AA over FCS.

Using the word "set" isn't incorrect anymore, but USA Volleyball decided two years ago to change the terminology to set to match overseas terminology. Why, I don't know. I still argue that if the parallel is to tennis, where a match is made up of sets, which are made up of games, you still have only two smaller periods in volleyball instead of three.

 

In Kentucky high schools, tennis and volleyball are both 2-of-3. Thus, it's not a whole lot of numbers.

If you see 25-23, 23-25, 25-14, you know the winning team won 2-1. You don't need to say the team won 2-1 and throw a bunch of numbers in parentheses.

Men's tennis has done the best 3-of-5 for a while now. While the sets are singular in number compared to volleyball, I don't think it's strange to look at a five-set tennis score written out, even with tiebreakers. So why should we complicate volleyball?

That being said, why would anyone use "to improve to 2-0 on the season."

You can say the same thing by doing "Jane Doe led Podunk (2-0) with 18 kills and four blocks."

 

Not sure why it's necessary to say they won in four games and then list the scores of those four games immediately after that. Seems redundant to me.