College Women
There isn’t a ton to report on the Women’s DI College Top 20, mostly because the previous two weeks fell between the end of regular season and playoffs. So several teams were either “idle,” in that they were preparing for the post-season on the practice pitch, or contested friendlies.
It was a bittersweet moment for Amy Naber. The 24-year-old was playing in her final 15s match for the University of Arizona, and it was against in-state rival Arizona State. If ASU won, then the Sun Devils had a good shot at DI playoffs; if not, then the seed would go to UC Santa Barbara. So Naber scored four tries, and the Wildcats won 45-34.
It was the 35th anniversary of the D.C. Ruggerfest, and clubs from around the country traveled to the nation's capital for one of the largest women-only tournaments in the U.S. Dartmouth made a tour out of the trip south and celebrated its first stop with a tournament trophy.
Virginia Women’s Rugby (UVA) deserves a spot in the spring Round of 16; the question is where they figure in. After a very successful fall, UVA started 2015 with a slim loss to North Carolina – a defeat that cost them the South #1 seed at the Mason Dixon playoffs and forged a tougher road to the conference final.
The South Independent conference (SIRC) was waiting on one game before locking down the DI and DII women’s college title-seekers: Lee University vs. Georgia. The former is the traditional power in the region, making several appearances at DII nationals and sending players into the age grade pools. The latter was a DI team until this season.