It was only 10-0 at half, but Virginia Women’s Rugby (UVA) pulled away for a 29-0 Cup quarterfinal win over Rutgers at the College 7s National Championship. UVA will play Central Washington, which defeated Cal 24-5 in its first knockout of the day, in the Cup semifinals at 12:40 p.m. MT.

UVA's Summer Harris-Jones showcased her power and speed early in the match, pushing off of the defense, before Rutgers wing Ashley Romeo – perhaps the smallest yet best tackler on the team – brought down the galloper from behind. But UVA was quick in its support, and Zoe Schmitt picked up for the try.

Schmitt scored again, this time employing some nice footwork along the sideline, to give UVA the 10-point lead into the half.

Rutgers gave good pressure through its scrum, but UVA recovered well and typically turned those chaotic moments into something positive. One example of such occurred when Rutgers’ Kristen Siano cleared the ball to the midfield, and UVA captain Bri Kim calmly gathered the ball and moved it ball wide. Jen Anderegg did an excellent job working the two-on-one, getting the pass off just before a crunching tackle, and sending Fran Beller into open space. Beller did the rest, transferring the ball from hand to hand as she posted big fends on the swarming defense for the try.

Rutgers had a five-meter scrum on its own tryline and was looking for a clean outlet pass for a clearing kick. Instead, scrumhalf Kim was quick to pressure the kicker, forcing a dropped pass that a teammate fell on for the score.

Beller ended the game with her second try, again using a big fend after cleaning up a messy scrum, 29-0 for the win.

On the other side of the bracket, Cal started off calmly against Central Washington. The Golden Bears took the kickoff and moved the ball through the hands without panic. Cal eventually drew a penalty in the breakdown, and Kelly Doran tapped and slipped through defense, tearing down the sideline. But as she was being corralled into touch, the flyhalf attempted to keep the ball in play by offloading to no one. There was zero support, so Cassidy Meyers picked it up and moved it wide. CJ Whiteside gave Mele Halahuni too much room, and the forward used her size and power to drive over the line, 5-0.

Two Cal penalties kept the ball in Central Washington’s hands. Asinate Serevi cleaned up a bad pass from one tap-through, straightened up, and then hit Meyers on a great line. The flyhalf converted for the 12-0 lead.

The Golden Bears were favoring contact – perhaps not the best strategy against CWU – and linebreaks, especially along the sideline, ended in error. But a good bit of defense helped keep the game in striking distance. Serevi set up Halahuni for a long break, but Stacey Wong closed the gap and pushed the power runner into touch inside the five meter. Cal's throw-in sailed over the top into Central Washington’s Jenny Johnston’s hands, and as the forward cruised over the try line, Jess Lewis wrapped up the ball and prevented the grounding.

Lewis single-handedly rejuvenated Cal in the second half, taking a quick-tap penalty and simply stepping around Queen Fina Toetu’u for the try, 12-5.

The turning point occurred after a long Rosa Pena break down the sideline into Cal territory. Johnson continued the drive with another north-south run, and Whiteside upended the Wildcat twice her size. It forced an awkward offload to Meyers, who dropped the ball forward. Lewis picked it up, stepped around the broken defense and handed off to Whiteside. It looked like a breakaway in the making, until Serevi flew onto the scene, tackling Whiteside from behind and knocking the ball loose. Ashley Rolsma was right there for the gather and then used her speed and footwork to cross the tryline, 19-5.

The Wildcats added one more score, when Whiteside fielded the restart in the try zone and attempted to return it. Support was slow – or surprised – and the sweeper sent a forward pass at the five meter. CWU took the scrum, and Toetu’u broke weakside and put just enough space between her and two defenders to ground the ball in the corner, 24-5.

The winner of the Central Washington vs. UVA Cup semifinal will play the winner of the Penn State vs. Princeton Final Four game (read more about Penn State's and Princeton's quarterfinal wins). The Cup final will be contested at 4:50 p.m. MT.