SLIAC pushes back Westminster's soccer, volleyball seasons to spring 2021

The Westminster men's and women's soccer teams and volleyball team will have their 2020 season pushed back to the spring, the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference announced Monday afternoon.

According to a press release from the conference, the SLIAC President's Council, "after much deliberation and discussion, has voted to postpone the 2020 fall competition in the team sports of volleyball and soccer and move both sports to a spring 2021 season."

Details on rescheduled seasons, contests and championships will be announced on a later date.

The conference's other fall sports - men's and women's cross country, men's and women's golf and men's and women's tennis - will be allowed to have limited competition this season.

"The SLIAC and its member institutions remain committed to providing student-athletes as full and inclusive a competitive plus non-traditional season as will be allowed by new NCAA legislation while consistently following health and safety protocols," the conference said in the press release. "Non-traditional athletic activities include but are not limited to, individual and team skill instruction, practice, leadership development, strength training, and scrimmages."

The SLIAC also noted the winter sports season will continue as scheduled, but the situation will be reevaluated closer to the start of that season.

Westminster's remaining fall sport, football, is a member of the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference.

In an announcement from July 16, the UMAC said no changes have been made to the conference's football season.

"Football will continue to be monitored and consistently reassessed as the season draws closer," the UMAC said in a press release.

Westminster is set to open the 2020 football season Sept. 5 at home against Nebraska Wesleyan. However, the Blue Jays' road game scheduled for Sept. 12 at Illinois College has been canceled, according the UMAC's composite football schedule. Illinois College is a member of the Midwest Conference, which announced Monday it was suspending competition for the rest of 2020.

Westminster's remaining eight football games are all conference contests.