This 2020-2021 SXU sports season will be one never to forget. While fans have yet to watch the Cougars play this fall, the winter and spring sports seasons are worth waiting for. The fall sports moving to the spring season gives the athletes the experience of playing alongside new sports for the first time. It also offers SXU fans a jam-packed schedule of must-watch games in 2021.
Women’s and men’s soccer, women’s volleyball, and football normally compete in the fall. Due to COVID-19, these teams will now compete alongside men’s volleyball, women’s and men’s basketball, baseball, and softball during the winter and spring of 2021. The schedules for men’s baseball, softball, women’s and men’s bowling, women’s and men’s cross country and track and field, women’s and men’s golf, cheerleading, and dance have yet to be released for the 2020-2021 season.
The first-time combination of SXU teams that Cougar fans will watch is women’s and men’s volleyball. The women’s team made it to the CCAC Tournament Quarterfinal last fall, and the men’s season came to an end a few weeks before the NAIA National Championships due to COVID-19. Based on these and other achievements in past seasons, their 2021 seasons will overflow with competitiveness. Another epic combination of SXU teams playing simultaneously is the outdoor sports: football, women’s soccer, and men’s soccer. All of these teams have had successful seasons in the past, so the Bruce R. Deaton Memorial Field will, without a doubt, be a hotspot for SXU sports this spring.
In addition to the women’s and men’s basketball schedules starting in October, the women’s volleyball, men’s volleyball, football, men’s soccer, and women’s soccer schedules prepare the teams for 2021. While fans and spectators’ status at games is still unknown, the sports schedules for the 2021 season will create some busy weeks for SXU fans to pay close attention.
The week of January 18th consists of jam-packed schedules for the Cougars. The women’s basketball team plays on that Monday, followed by the men’s volleyball on the 19th and 21st. The men’s and women’s basketball and men’s volleyball teams compete on the 23rd. Women’s volleyball gets added to the mix the next week on Thursday, January 28th, which gives SXU fans a total of four sports games to watch that week. In addition to the four indoor sports, football plays its season opener the following week on Friday, February 5th.
The week of February 9th consists of all five sports playing again, totaling ten games during the week. The next week looks to be just as busy with women’s soccer joining the other SXU spring sports on Saturday, February 20th. Men’s soccer then kicks off their season the following weekend on Saturday, February 27th. From the week of January 18th until the last week of March into April, the SXU teams will prepare for each of their games after sticking to their regimens.
The men’s volleyball hopes to compete in the first SXU postseason game, the CCAC Tournament Semifinals, on Friday, April 2nd. Next come women’s volleyball and women’s soccer, who could both compete in the CCAC Tournament Quarterfinals on Tuesday, April 6th. The postseason for men’s soccer could be next on Tuesday, April 13th, for the CCAC Tournament Quarterfinals. Finally, football looks to make it to the first round of the NAIA Football Championship series on Saturday, April 17th.