With strict regulations, testing and shorter seasons, Clemson athletics went into the 2020 seasons with the hope of playing their scheduled matches and returning to some level of normalcy. However, neither our women’s volleyball or men’s soccer have been able to record a single minute of playing time thus far. The first three matches for soccer and five matches for volleyball have been cancelled/postponed due to COVID-19 spikes at the opposing team’s schools. Thankfully, none of these cancellations are because of Clemson and our numbers, yet, our teams are still bearing the brunt of these COVID-19 spikes.
Our women’s volleyball team had expected to have already played three matches, the first being against the Citadel and the other two against Wake Forest, and they expected to have two more coming up this week at Florida State. While the games against Wake Forest and Florida State either have been or will be rescheduled, the Tigers are still missing out on some valuable playing time early in the season. All of their upcoming opponents have started their season and therefore have been able to work out any early season kinks or roster changes. It will be interesting to see how the Tigers make up for the lack of play and remain competitive for the rest of their season. The next match scheduled for the Tigers is home at Jervey Gym against Miami on Oct. 8 at 6 p.m.
The Clemson men’s soccer team was scheduled and supposed to have already played games against Virginia, Wake Forest and UNC. The Virginia game will not be rescheduled, as it was only an exhibition match, but the Wake and UNC games have already been rescheduled to Oct. 13 and Oct. 27 respectively. The Virginia game was supposed to be a redemption match for the Tigers, given their loss to the Cavaliers in the ACC championship last season. The Tigers were ranked No. 1 in the 2020 ACC Preseason Coaches Poll, and it is unfortunate that we will not see the rematch against No. 2 ranked Virginia. However, with the opportunity of an ACC championship still on the table, it is possible that these two teams will meet again in 2020. The next game scheduled for the Tigers is on the road against UofSC Thursday, Oct. 1.
While both the fans and players have the right to be frustrated with these alterations to the schedules, we are still lucky that they are playing any games at all. At this point, it is extremely important that both teams focus on their upcoming matches and make the most of this season. As long as we continue to stay healthy at Clemson, there is no reason why we shouldn’t see our women’s volleyball and men’s soccer teams on the court/field very soon.
