Submitted by USA Rugby

TUKWILA, Wash. – A year after losing in the USA Rugby Emirates Airline Club 7s National Championship Final, the San Diego Surfers went 6-0 over the weekend to claim the 2014 Championship.

In the Quarterfinals, the Surfers shut out the Atlanta Harlequins, 10-0, to set up a rematch of the 2013 Cup Final against Berkeley after the All Blues squeaked past Oregon Sports Union, 7-0. In the Semifinals, San Diego got revenge on its Women’s Premier League rival and ended Berkeley’s quest for back-to-back 7s National Championships with a 29-14 win.

The Surfers would face Old Blue of New York in the Cup Finals a day after San Diego defeated Old Blue, 21-7, in pool play. Old Blue, a club established a half-century ago, assembled its first-ever female unit this summer. Led by legendary Eagle Phaidra Knight, the team’s roster was made up almost entirely of college-grade players. Old Blues’ youthful roster got past fellow youngsters ICEF in the Quarterfinal and shut out perennial sevens power NOVA in the Semifinals.

Old Blue’s inexperience finally caught up with the team in the Final after playing terrific rugby all weekend. San Diego’s Katie Lorenz and Mollie Martin combined for five tries, while Nia Williams used her speed and vision to create line breaks at will on her way to the Smith & Forge Hard Cider MVP. When the dust finally settled on the Women’s Cup Final, the Surfers’ dominant display earned a 45-0 win over Old Blue and the 2014 Club 7s National Championship.

In other day two action, Berkeley’s Emily Azevedo, a former Olympian bobsledder and newcomer to rugby, continued to show off her tremendous athleticism and pace scoring for the All Blues and helping Berkeley to a 17-10 win and a third place finish over NOVA.

In a quasi-rematch of the 15s National Championship, the Chicago Lions, a summer sevens unit made up of several players from Chicago North Shore, defeated 2014 15s National Champion ORSU. 22-17.

The Youngbloodz of Minneapolis met the D.C. Furies in the Bowl Final. The Furies’ Rhiannon Clark scored the team’s first two tries to take a 12-5 lead, and the women from D.C. never looked back on its way to 26-17 win and Club 7s hardware.