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As the COVID-19 pandemic enters its fifth month, the once-promising outlook of the fall semester no longer appears as such.

At the moment, the plan is still to play. Every school and conference will take its decision to the last possible opportunity to declare otherwise, with the ramifications of a full-on cancellation still unknown.

But three Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference sports were dealt a sizable blow on Friday when the league’s Council of Presidents announced it had voted to cancel non-conference competition for volleyball and men’s and women’s soccer in 2020.

Originally, it had been announced that all MAAC fall sports could begin their schedules as early as Sept. 11.

Now, the volleyball slate will begin no earlier than Sept. 19. Women’s soccer may schedule games starting on Sept. 26 and men’s soccer may not play until Oct. 3.

Championship weekend for those sports will begin on Nov. 19, Nov. 5, and Nov. 12, respectively.

The Big East said on Thursday that it was canceling its non-conference competition for field hockey, impacting the Quinnipiac program.

All four of the affected sports typically open their seasons in mid-to-late August, with conference games beginning in the last week of September.

In 2019, Quinnipiac volleyball played nine non-conference contests. The men’s and women’s soccer and field hockey programs played seven each.

This is far from the last announcement that will come from the MAAC higher-ups over the coming weeks. With the clock ticking on an outright decision on the entire season, the conference said the “Council will revisit at its July 24 meeting any modifications conference play for [volleyball and soccer].”

Technically a winter sport, the Quinnipiac men’s and women’s basketball programs, in a normal year, would be conducting summer workouts on campus. Though the courts have been quiet since March, the MAAC said there will be no summer access for the remainder of the offseason.

Baker Dunleavy and Tricia Fabbri’s squads will return to Hamden with the rest of the student population, which is currently scheduled for Aug. 24.

Decisions are likely to come quickly as each individual league scrambles to adjust its fall plans. Some conferences, like the Ivy and Patriot Leagues, have already announced a full cancelation of fall sports, which includes football, which produces the most revenue.