Football | 6/23/2020 9:24:00 AM

In conjunction with the NAIA's return to play plan, the McPherson College Athletic Department is ready to announce the fall schedules for Football, Volleyball, Men's and Women's Soccer, and Men's and Women's Cross Country.
 
A couple of weeks ago, the NAIA announced their return to play plan for the fall seasons, which included pushing practice start dates back to August 15, and the dates of first competitions to September 5 for Volleyball, Soccer, and Cross Country, and September 12 for Football. In addition to the delayed starts, the NAIA also announced that all fall sport seasons would have their maximum number of contests reduced. The football season has been limited to nine games, volleyball can participate in 22 dates, soccer saw their number of games shrunk to 14, and cross country has been limited to seven race dates.
 
Football
 
With the announcement from the NAIA, the Bulldog fall sports coaches were forced to revamp their schedules, most of which had been set early in the spring. The football schedule took the most time to figure out as there are 11 conference schools but only nine games available. After much deliberation, the KCAC decided that the conference schedule for 2020 would be limited to an eight game slate.
 
The Bulldogs' eight conference games will include home games against Bethel College, Friends University, Kansas Wesleyan University, and Avila University. They will play Tabor College, Southwestern College, University of Saint Mary, and Bethany College on the road. Their ninth game on the schedule will be Sterling College but it will be considered a non-conference game. The game against Sterling will be the Bulldogs' season opener on September 12, and will be played in Sterling, Kansas.
 
The Bulldogs start their second season under head coach Jeremiah Fiscus. He had this to say about the upcoming season. "We're excited to see what the season brings.  We can't wait to get our kids back on campus and start working with them again.  It will be great to see them compete."
Volleyball
 
For Coach Cory Cahill, and the Bulldog volleyball team, their fall schedule consists of 21 dates, with two-thirds of those dates in the friendly confines of the MC Sport Center. The Bulldogs get their 2020 campaign underway on September 5-6 when they play a two day event hosted by Kansas Wesleyan University.
 
From there, nine of their next ten matches will be on their home court, six of them against members of the Sooner Athletic Conference. They will open up KCAC play on Wednesday September 23, on the road against Oklahoma Wesleyan University. They will play their first home KCAC match on September 29 when University of St. Mary comes to town. The regular season will wrap up with a road trip to Kansas Wesleyan on November 7, and then the conference tournament will be the following week.
 
Looking ahead at 2020, Coach Cahill remarked, "After a spring and summer full of adversity, we are so ready to be back in full swing this fall! It is going to be a special year for Bulldog Volleyball!"
 
Cross Country

The Bulldog cross country teams have five regular season races scheduled for 2020 leading up to the KCAC meet on November 7. The highlight of this year's race schedule is the season opener, which will be a home race for the Bulldogs on their newly created course out at Bulldog Park. This will be the first time the Bulldogs have hosted a race since 2012.
Following their season opener, the Bulldogs head to Salina, Kansas a week later to take part in the KCAC Preview Meet hosted by Kansas Wesleyan University. The race will be run on the same course that the conference meet will be run on in November.

Second year head coach, Kendrick Clay shared his thoughts on the upcoming season saying, "We are looking forward to the season ahead and returning to competition.  Our athletes are excited and motivated to return to training and competition."

Soccer

The men's and women's soccer teams will be limited to 14 games this season rather than the 18 they have been allowed in years past. With 12 conference opponents, that left the Bulldogs with only two open spots for non-conference opponents. The Bulldog men filled those spots with a pair of road trips, the first to Baker University on the opening weekend of the season, September 5 and then up to Crete, Nebraska to play a match with Doane University on September 13. The women elected to start their season on September 9, on the road at NCCAA Randall University in Moore, Oklahoma, then wrap up their non-conference schedule, like the men, at Doane.

Both teams will start KCAC play on September 19 at home against Sterling College. They will play six KCAC matches on their home pitch, including a match against Avila University on Homecoming, October 3. The regular season will conclude with a road trip to Southwestern College on October 31, and the conference tournament will kick-off a week later on November 7.

Men's head coach, Doug Quint, who is in his 18^th year at MC, commented on the upcoming season saying, "We are excited to return to a sense of normalcy and get things going. The challenges of a new season ahead is always a very exciting time." Mark Olson, skipper of the women's side added, "I'm looking forward to the players returning to campus and what this season could bring. The players as well as myself are looking forward to getting back on campus and starting our season."

Fall athletes will return to campus in a phased in approach beginning August 8.