Saint Vincent was primed to begin women’s tennis season.
Opening day at Grove City was less than a month away.
Finally, there would be some real, live college sports played.
Then the racket strings popped.
Initially, the NCAA Division III Presidents’ Athletic Conference sought to play “low contact risk” sports in the fall while attempting to move others like football and soccer to the spring.
That meant men’s and women’s golf, and women’s tennis could proceed as normal.
But this week, the conference reversed course and decided to also suspend those sports to a later date, preferably the spring, due to covid-19 risks.
Now, there will be no sports in the PAC until 2021.
“It’s been a tough pill to swallow for us,” Bearcats coach Brian Niemiec said. “Having had the (men’s tennis) spring 2020 season cut short had the (women’s) team chomping at the bit to get back on the courts. We were definitely ready for the fall slate of matches, so being told we are being postponed … was a big blow to the team.”
Football, men’s and women’s soccer, women’s volleyball and men’s and women’s cross country had already been postponed.
The NCAA Division III Administrative Committee recently recommended member schools avoid playing fall sports, which prompted the PAC’s latest move to shut it all down.
“I have a very resilient team who are ready for every circumstance,” Washington & Jefferson men’s golf coach Matt Kluck said. “We wish we were competing, but the NCAA made a very difficult decision which we respect.
“We will adapt and overcome the obstacles with good preparation to be winners again next spring.”
Niemiec also coaches the men’s tennis team at Saint Vincent and had all but two matches erased due to the coronavirus. The NCAA canceled spring sports shortly after the pandemic took hold.
“It couldn’t have been an easy decision to make, but I know the conference had the health and safety of the student-athletes at the forefront of their minds,” Niemiec said of the latest postponement. “So I trust that it’s the right decision.”
The NCAA also said outdoor track and field season, which usually takes place in the spring, could be moved to the fall. The 2020 NCAA Division III Championships had already been canceled.
Winter sports including men’s and women’s basketball, wrestling, men’s and women’s swimming and diving and men’s and women’s indoor track and field, are not permitted to play until after Jan. 1.
Niemiec hopes his team can spin the disappointment of not having a season into a positive.
“While there are no matches this fall, the team sees this time as an opportunity to elevate their games,” Niemiec said. “Having played on their own all summer they now have time to get into a rhythm with their doubles partners and refine and tweak things before match action starts.”
