It ranges from staggered seating and mask wearing for players on the sidelines to limited facial contact during games.
Abiding by the SC High School League rules is a priority for teams who want to complete their seasons.
What’s constant is the rivalry between Lexington and River Bluff.
A year after meeting for the Class 5A Lower State title, the Lady Wildcats and Lady Gators return to the Wildcat Gymnasium at 7 pm Tuesday for the season-opener.
“The River Bluff game is always an important game but one the girls always look forward to,” Lexington head coach Eric Shick said.
“Having it at the beginning of the season this year sets the tone for the season - a tone that I hope we can continue to ride to the end.”
River Bluff head coach Bryan Piro said, “We definitely are in a hurry to get to a point where we are finding our groove and learning how to trust each other and our roles.
“This all takes time and ultimately we'd love to be ‘ready’ and in mid-season form with a lot of matches under our belt before we play them.
"Our goal this year as it has been in previous years, is to try and get better each day in practice. By the time playoffs start, we hope to be peaking.”
Both teams replace seniors from last year.
Lexington lost 3 of its 4 starters from last year’s Class 5A Lower State champions who moved on to the college level.
Madison Jacoby and Carolina Hicks will replace Phoebe Perkins as outside hitters, while sophomores Mia Kutyla and Andrea Crawford will fill the void left by the graduation of Lexington Chronicle Co-Player of the Year Layla Sarvis.
River Bluff lost 5 seniors from last year’s 36-win team.
Piro indicated season-ending injuries to a couple of players will force other players to step up and fill bigger roles.
Both teams have made various adjustments to comply with the SC High School League rules. Checking temperatures daily and maintaining social distancing are among the key changes from years past.
“The main change for Phase 1.5 is that we were not allowed to have players at the net against each other- so no blockers vs hitters or scrimmaging,” Shick said.
“We focused on serving, passing and defense which has always been our strengths and how we win games.
"In that sense we didn't skip a beat.
“The most limiting to us was the rule that we could only have 16 in the gym at a time. With 2 coaches that limited us to 14 players at a time.
"We had more players than that so we had to rotate players each day to take the day off. It wasn't the best situation to not have everyone there but we made it work.”
“We have really been careful about screening our players, keeping them away from each other and strictly following the guidelines that have been set,” Piro said.
“We do not want to be the reason that our season gets cut short or any fall sports aren't able to continue. We've seen firsthand what happened with the spring sports last year and do not want to have to go through that.”
There’s a sense of urgency this season with only 2 region teams qualifying for the post-season. Region 5-5A had 3 teams (Lexington, River Bluff and White Knoll) reach the 3rd round last year.
At the same time, both teams have managed to squeeze in several playoff caliber opponents on a 16-game schedule.
Lexington will have 2 meetings against 2-time defending Class 5A champion Nation Ford and perennial Upper State power Dorman.
River Bluff’s schedule is equally forminable with Nation Ford, JL Mann, Hillcrest, Blythewood, Dorman, Mauldin and TL Hanna.
“It will be a grueling schedule, but these teams don't just schedule anyone, so by scheduling us, we must be doing something right,” Piro said.
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