A 2-0 weekend saw Arkansas unseat reigning champion Nebraska for the Mid-America title. The Razorbacks continue their playoff run with automatic entry into this weekend’s national Round of 16 at Northern Iowa, the West regional sight for the USA Rugby Women’s DII College Fall Championship, hosted by ACRA.

Arkansas had compiled an undefeated record heading into the conference semifinals, so a double victory was expected. The Fayetteville-based team outdid itself against Central Missouri, going up 31-0 at halftime and nearly matching the points-scored in the second half for the 60-0 win. On the other side of the bracket, Nebraska was busy dismantling Missouri 73-17 in an equally impressive win.

When finalists Arkansas and Nebraska met in the regular season, the Razorbacks won 48-15. But that match marked the first of the season, and both sides had improved since mid-September.

A truly physical battle played out during the first half, but behind the leadership of captain and prop Carla Chang, Arkansas built a 17-6 halftime lead. The eventual titleholder matched its first-half efforts, as wings Beth Stratton and Meghan Lewis, and outside center Cambre Awtrey dotted down tries. A stout defense held UNL to one second-half try for the the 34-11 win.

Despite the undefeated record, Arkansas coach Tabitha Davis did express some concern about the lack of games this fall. With fewer opportunities to test itself, every game had to yield good insight into Arkansas’s strengths and weaknesses.

“Nebraska certainly has some strong runners and attacked quickly on defense, which helped with our timing and space,” said Davis, who stepped into the head coach role last year. “UCM are just all-around tough players with some power in the scrum, which helped with our drive and engagement. Mizzou had a long-reaching scrumhalf, which helped to develop a quicker ball out of the scrum.”

That compression chamber of a season forced the players to diffuse the pressure throughout the ranks.

“Naming our top play-makers would be quite a task,” Davis said. “Each week someone different seems to step up to the plate and take their role to the next level, constantly pushing and challenging their mates to match them. We've got some shifty forwards and some stout backs, so the work is shared. The ladies consistently work together to get things done, and so far, it’s put us where we want to be.”

Arkansas has a huge challenge in front of itself, as it prepares for defending ACRA champion Winona in the Round of 16. The Black Katts are comfortable in the post-season and eager to get playing after UW Whitewater forfeited its match last weekend.

“We are extremely excited at the prospect of playing at the next level,” Davis had said before the weekend. “We have no doubt that our Round of 16 matchup is going to be a fight. We are just looking forward to the new challenge, playing some great rugby and the opportunity to represent our club as best we can. We will definitely need to be on the top of our game from here on out, but that’s always our goal.”

The only other West game that occurred last weekend was between Mankato and UW Steven’s Point (read more), with the Mavericks advancing to play Utah Valley on Saturday. For the full brackets, click here.