(additional reporting by Owen Goff) Round I of the Women’s College 7s Championship has concluded, and for the most part, the results have matched expectations.

POOL C proved the group to watch. Central Washington and Princeton answered each other’s tries in the first half, as Mele Halahuni, Cassidy Meyers, and Asinate Serevi scored for the Wildcats, and Jessica Lu and Jochebed Muflam dotted down for the Tigers. But Halahuni snuck in a second try right before the break, extending CWU’s lead to 26-12.

“Princeton had really strong runners and they gave us a good contest at the breakdown,” Central Washington assistant coach Katie Dowty told Goff Rugby Report. “Princeton’s been playing a lot of 7s this season and they have a lot of good competition in the northeast, and they have some great coaching, so we need to play good 7s."

A defensive battle waged through the second half, and Muflam was the only player to add a try. Lu added the conversion but it ended in a 26-19 victory to Central Washington.

“I think we have a lot of potential on attack,” Dowty added. “We’re a threat everywhere in the line, but we need to up our game on defense."

On the other side of the pool, North Carolina put in a solid performance against 7s newcomer Humboldt, winning 24-7 behind two tries apiece from Tavoiya Whitworth and Lindsey Oliver. Humboldt showed a bit of flash, however, and got on the board with a nice chip-and-chase from Meredith Conrad-Forrest for seven points. UNC should play an exciting game against Princeton in round two, while CWU plays fellow west coaster Humboldt.

In POOL A, Penn State and UC Davis won their games comfortably. The Nittany Lions defeated Rutgers 42-7, but it didn’t become a runaway until the second half. Brie Barto opened up the scoring two minutes in, and the first of Meya Bizer’s three conversions made it 7-0. Rutgers answered with an Anchi Numfor try, converted by Kristen Siano, but that was the end of the New Jersey team’s tally. Rachel Ehrecke (2), Kyla Chipman (2), and Tess Feury, who also added three conversions, tacked on tries throughout the match.

Two converted tries in the first half and two converted tries in the second half was the story for UC Davis, which blanked Montana State 28-0 in the duo’s championship debut. Sydnee Watanabe, Kristin Shum, and Erica Hipp all scored tries, while Caitlin Reid tacked on the extras.

UVA replicated Penn State’s scoreline, defeating Texas Tech 42-7 to open up POOL B play. Elizabeth Anderson, Bri Kim, and Zoe Schmitt were among the try scorers, while Texas Tech got its lone try from Toni Armstrong. Stanford played a closer game against Air Force, but still posted a solid 29-7 win. Olivia Bernadel-Huey, Chelsey Sveinsson, Chelsey Harris (2), and Lex Schoenberg all dotted down for the Cardinal, while Nikki Richardson added two conversions. Madeline Midas scored Air Force’s lone try, which Allie Baumgarten added the extras.

POOL D’s scores looked like Pool A’s results. Lindenwood’s Ariana Lewis and Texas’ Wendy Sun traded tries early, but then the Lady Lions pulled away for a 41-7 victory. Georgia Page, Amanda Divich (3), and Joy Taufa were among Lindenwood's try-scorers. Cal handled James Madison to a 29-0 victory, sending Stacey Wong, CJ Whiteside (3), and Courtney Hendrickson over for tries. Kelly Doran added two conversions.

Round II (*Game to watch)
Pool A: Penn State v Montana State
Pool A: UC Davis v Rutgers
Pool B: UVA v Air Force
Pool B: Stanford v Texas Tech
*Pool C: North Carolina v Princeton
Pool C: Central Washington v Humboldt State
Pool D: Texas v James Madison
*Pool D: Cal v Lindenwood