GRR: Championship
The National Collegiate Women’s Varsity Rugby Association (NCWVRA) inaugurated its first-ever playoffs last weekend, and the quarterfinal victors will now convene at Brown University for the final four on Friday, Nov. 20 and Sunday, Nov. 22.
Sometimes, one of the best things a team can do is lose. That’s what happened with UW Steven’s Point during the final week of the Great Waters regular season. Its opponent, UW Eau Claire, wasn’t going to the post-season, but that didn’t dilute its aggressive work at the breakdown and fringe, nor the impact of center Robin Blevins and flanker Janee Kutz.
Ithaca College returns to the DII fall Round of 32 as the Upstate New York champion, and runner-up SUNY Geneseo is also making the trip to the post-season. The pair played to an exciting conference finale last weekend, one that wasn’t truly decided until the final minutes of the contest.
Where does DI stand? Everywhere. There are essentially three different competitions being contested at the level above DII, and it’s been a laborious process sorting out who’s playing where. Below is a summary of the competitions and which teams/conferences are competing in them:
“Back to back” is a descriptor with which Wayne State College is familiar. The NSCRO women’s team won back-to-back 15s titles from 2012-13, and then won the first-ever NSCRO 7s championship last spring. This past weekend in West Point, N.Y., the Wildcats retained its 7s title, beating Mount St. Mary’s 22-17 in the final, and saw Caitlin Hollinger repeat as championship MVP.
