Syracuse, NY — The State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) announced Wednesday the scheduling decision for fall 2020 to split the conference into two divisions in an East and West format for soccer and women's volleyball, while women's tennis will compete entirely in the spring.
 
The SUNYAC Board of Directors, made up of 10 directors of athletics from each member institution, came to the decision during a weekly conference meeting Monday. The decision was made to limit travel costs for most institutions as well as reduce health and safety risks by eliminating overt nights in hotel rooms.
 
The State University of New York at New Paltz will compete in the East Division, along with Cortland, Oneonta, Plattsburgh and Potsdam. The West Division is made up Brockport, Buffalo State, Fredonia, Geneseo and Oswego. The plan is to use a "double round-robin" format in soccer and volleyball with teams playing on Wednesday and Saturday's starting Sept. 30. The playoff format will mirror the regular season format, playing on Wednesday and Saturday's with semifinals being held for all three sports Nov. 4 and the championships played Nov. 7. The semifinal round will pit the No. 2 seed facing the No. 1 seed of the opposite division.
 
SUNYAC is currently working on who would host the championship in the new format this fall and is modifying its tiebreaker system to fit the new format.
 
For the Hawks women's soccer team, who finished 4-11-2 in 2019, they compete against four teams in the East Division that all made the conference playoffs last season, including defending SUNYAC Champion SUNY Cortland. SUNY New Paltz men's soccer is in a similar situation, as all teams in the East Division besides the Hawks (8-8-1) and the Bears (3-14-2) entered postseason play. SUNY Oneonta defeated Plattsburgh State in the 2019 men's soccer championship game.
 
The Hawks women's volleyball team, just a year removed from a SUNYAC Championship in 2018, made the postseason in 2019 but were eliminated by their Catskill Cup rival Red Dragons in the quarterfinal round. SUNY New Paltz, which finished last season 15-14 overall, will compete against two teams in its East Division that made a conference tournament run (Oneonta and Cortland). However, the women's volleyball championship last season consisted of two West Division teams, The College at Brockport and SUNY Geneseo with the Golden Eagles earning the title.
 
Women's tennis holds the NCAA Tournament in the spring annually, and this season regular season SUNYAC play and a chance to fight for a SUNYAC Championship will also be held in the spring of 2021. The Hawks will try and earn their third-straight SUNYAC Championship. 
 
To read the full SUNYAC press release, click here.

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