Austin to open Big 9 volleyball season at home October 8th versus Mankato East
The Big 9 Conference released its volleyball schedule for the 2020 season Wednesday night after the Minnesota State High School League approved a reconsideration placement of fall activities earlier this week which brought volleyball and football back to the fall season after being moved to the spring of 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic at a meeting in August.
The plan, which fits within COVID-19 guidance from the Minnesota Department of Health will have an approved 11-week volleyball season beginning on September 28th, and member schools may play their first matches on October 8th. The Austin Packers will begin Big 9 Conference play on October 8th at Packer Gym versus Mankato East, with 9th grade and JV matches starting at 6:00 p.m. that evening, and the varsity match will start at 7:30 p.m.
Austin will play only Big 9 Conference opponents, and they will return to action after their opener on October 10th in Red Wing versus the Wingers, then will return to the friendly confines of Packer Gym on October 13th for a match with Owatonna. The Packers will then be off for a week until October 20th when they travel to Rochester to meet the Century Panthers, and they will then head back out on the road on the 22nd to take on Albert Lea. Austin returns home to meet Northfield on Tuesday, October 27th, and they will remain at home on the 29th to host Winona before heading back out on the road on Monday, November 2nd to take on Rochester Mayo. Austin will take to the road again on November 5th to meet Faribault before returning home on the 10th to take on Rochester John Marshall. Austin will then host the Mankato West Scarlets at Packer Gym on November 12th before traveling to Mankato to meet the East Cougars in a non-conference game on Tuesday, November 17th. The Packers will play their last regular-season match at home on the 19th versus Rochester Mayo in a non-conference matchup, and they will then close out the regular season with a non-conference match at Mankato West on Tuesday, November 24th.
In the framework that was approved by the MSHSL board, two weeks of post-season play would begin the week of November 30th,