Champions Crowned Women's College 7s
Champions Crowned Women's College 7s
Weather forced early kickoffs for the playoff rounds of the USA Rugby College 7s Championships, with most brackets finishing off in the morning, before the rains really came.
So here's how it all came down:
The Life University Running Eagles continued their torrid run, and in fact ended up outscoring opponents 184-10 on the weekend. On Sunday, Life shut out Stanford 26-0 in the semifinals, with Sorensen Award nominee Nicole Strasko scoring three tries to put Life into the final. Meanwhile, Lindenwood ran out to a 19-5 lead over Penn State thanks to tries from Neariah Persinger, Jennese Bacon, and Hannah Gauthreaux, with two conversiobs from Sorensen Award finalist McKenzie Hawkins. Penn State battled back, but their try at the end of the game wasn't quite enough, and Lindenwood made the final 19-12.
In the final, Life's defense stifled their opponents once again, and a try in the first two minutes was enough. Life went on to win it all 10-0.
Central Washington rebounded from a close loss to Stanford to win the Plate, 29-0 over Virginia, behind two tries from Carrie Vaillancourt.
Division I Finishes:
Cup Final: Life 10 Lindenwood 0
3rd/4th: Penn State 10 Stanford 5
5th/6th (Plate): Central Washington 29 Stanford 0
7th/8th: UC Davis 17 James Madison 12
9th/10th: Chico State 26 North Carolina 5
11th: Texas A&M
In DII, Davenport looked virtually untouchable on Day One, and one Day Two continued their impressive play with a 19-0 shutout of Ithaca College paced by two tries from Ashlee Byrge, and one from Madison Sparks. Bloomsburg was equally impressive in beating Rutgers. Nicole Snyder scored three as Bloomsburg won 26-5.
So that set up the final, and finally someone seemed prepared to put Davenport under pressure. But it was the physical play up front and the aggressive running of Davenport that finished off chances. Dani Ordway, Byrge, and then Ordway again scored to make it 19-0 at halftime. Bloomsburg scored through Jade Hensinger to make it 19-7, but Makala Ferguson's try essentially put the game away. Hensinger got another for Bloomsburg at the death.
As in the men's game, the DII national champions in 15s repeat as 7s national champions.
Cup Final: Davenport 24 Bloomsburg 14
3rd/4th: Ithaca/Rutgers
5th/6th (Plate): Montana State 12 Utah State 10
7th/8th: Texas State 22 Springfield 0
9th: UT San Antonio