All of the top teams in the DII West Coast conference exited the weekend with big wins. Sacramento State defeated SF BATS 65-12; Reno topped Santa Clara 78-10; and Humboldt banked shutouts against St. Mary’s and Fresno State by a combined 199-0.

Humboldt moved the ball around Saturday against St. Mary’s, with 12 different players scoring tries. Meredith Conrad Forrest and Jordan Ludtke, and rookie Kristine Werner scored a brace of tries, while Krista Miller, Jasmine Phiengsai, Kayla Maulson, Holly Heebink, and Maria Bocardo dotted down for the veterans. Newcomers Libby Treu, Madison Wallace, Carissa Reynolds, and Faith Neff also scored tries.

“It was a pretty balanced attack, and Sunday was much the same, which is great for a team to have so many threats,” Humboldt coach Evi Ashenbrucker said. “It was also split about 50/50 between backs and forwards doing the scoring. Sunday we also had Lila Bell returning at outside center, and I know she accounted for at least four tries and probably an additional 30 points in conversions alone.”

With those two wins, Humboldt is now 5-0 when counting all of the forfeits and cancellations that plagued the reigning conference champion’s season early on.

“It was nice to finally get a couple league games in, and our fitness showed as the girls played 160 minutes of rugby on the weekend,” Ashenbrucker added. Humboldt actually ended the weekend with only 14 girls on the pitch due to low travel numbers and injuries. “Overall I was happy to get the wins but wish that we had more of an opportunity to work on our defense. The biggest thing that showed this weekend were the improvements in our support lines. The girls were everywhere they needed to be at all the right times, and that is really what racked up the score.”

The team is looking forward to its March 21 game against Sacramento State, which should provide some good competition.

Reno crossed Santa Clara's try line with regularity as well, and outside center Sara Parsons spent the most time dotting down with five tries. She was named Player of the Match for her efforts. Also prevalent on the day was flanker/No. 8 Genesis Ruiz, who was deemed Forward of the Match, and fullback Kandace King, the Back of the Match. Tries were scored by Karla Navarrette, Cecilia Tovar, Kira Clifton, Rookie of the Match Courtney Hewitt, Soraya Mayahzadeh, and Ruiz. Danielle Schumacher converted nine of 12 tries for 18 points.

The UN Reno vs. Humboldt game in February has been a highlight of league play thus far, and the conference might see the face-off again. The West Coast is holding playoffs this year – instead of having the standings determine the conference champion – and the top four teams will convene on March 28-29 for the berth to DII nationals.