After a tense playoff weekend, the four women’s DII college regionals have named their representatives to the fall championship semifinals. The teams will gather at Furman University (S.C.) on Dec. 5-6, and the fall champion will move onto the DII national championship in May 2016.

The Northeast quarterfinal was inarguably the most competitive. Tri-State champion Vassar was coming off a 37-0 win over Coast Guard, while New England Small College champion Bowdoin defeated Kutztown 43-24 for the Round of 8 berth. On Sunday, the Polar Bears took a 5-0 lead off an Addison Carvajal try, but then the Brewers answered with three consecutive tries. Two came from power prop Darienne Jones, and another from power center Cierra Thomas. Bowdoin responded with a closing-minutes try from Paige Pfannenstiel for the 15-10 final in Vassar's favor.

Vassar returns to the final four after a year’s absence and will line up against Winona in South Carolina. The Rockies Region champ began its stay in Colorado Springs with a 51-0 shutout of Colorado-Mesa, the Rocky Mountain conference runner-up. Meanwhile, newcomer Montana State eliminated Northern Lights runner-up Mankato State in even bigger fashion, 98-22. There was hope that the Bobcats would give Winona a run in the quarterfinals, and while Montana State played valiantly, the Minnesota side won 73-12.

Winona won the fall championship in 2013 and finished second to now-DI Notre Dame College last year. The team is young with only four seniors on the roster, but clearly Winona will bring another title-contending squad to the final four.

On the other side of the bracket, the victors won their playoff matches by big margins. The most lopsided decisions came out of the Midwest Region, as Davenport did not relinquish a point-against during its two games against Ohio Valley’s Eastern Kentucky and Cincinnati. The Panthers defeated the former 89-0 on Saturday and followed with an 81-0 victory on Sunday. Danielle Ordway, once again, proved the most devastating finisher, notching 11 tries across both games. Ashlee Byrge was next in line in terms of points scored. The All American dotted down three tries and went 8/9 on conversions Saturday. Brenna Donahue and Hunter Moreland had hat tricks over two days, while Courtnay Tafel (2), Makala Ferguson, Julia Mayer, Allison Miedzielec, and Catie O’Connor also scored tries. Hannah Tennant kicked nine conversions and a penalty on Sunday.

The scorelines looked similar to Davenport’s regular-season games (save the friendly against Notre Dame College), but coach Greg Teliczan explained that his team has been tested in all aspects of play.

“I believe we have been challenged on defense and quite often, but our girls have come up hard and shut teams down,” the coach explained. “We have been working very hard on that all year.”

Davenport’s defense will certainly be tested against Bloomsburg in the semifinals. The Pennsylvania team scored 12 tries in both of its Mid-Atlantic Region playoffs this weekend: 80-5 Round of 16 win against Rutgers, and 74-17 quarterfinal win against Ithaca College Sunday.

The most common item in the box score was “Nikki Snyder try, Kelly Mason conversion.” The former notched 11 tries over the two games, while the latter slotted 17 conversions. Meg Reilly accounted for five tries, Selena Fernandez four, and Erin Duganitz, Cait Rycek, Ericka Heath, and Michelle Ronayne scored one try apiece.

Ithaca College entered the Mid-Atlantic quarterfinals battered. The Renegades needed overtime to surpass St. Michael’s Saturday, but prevailed with a thrilling 48-43 decision. A quick turn-around saw the Upstate New York team take on Bloomsburg, which was able to work the bench during its 75-point win on Saturday. Ithaca kept it respectably close in the first half, as scores from Katie Conmy and Noelle Carbone produced a 31-12 scoreline at the break. But Bloomsburg pulled away in the second stanza for the convincing win.

Stay tuned for coach and player reactions.

DII Round of 16
Davenport 89-0 Eastern Kentucky
Cincinnati 53-10 IUP
Vassar 37-0 Coast Guard
Bowdoin 43-24 Kutztown
Bloomsburg 80-5 Rutgers
Ithaca College 48-43 (OT) St. Michael's
Winona State 51-0 Colorado-Mesa
Montana State 98-22 Mankato

Quarterfinals
Davenport 81-0 Cincinnati
Bloomsburg 74-17
Winona 68-12 Montana State
Vassar 15-10 Bowdoin

Semifinals (Dec. 5)
Vassar v Winona
Bloomsburg v Davenport