GRR: Life University
It was a tough year for Lindenwood Head Coach Billy Nicholas.
A disturbingly ferocious bout of COVID saw Nicholas, younger and healthier than the vast majority of serious victims of the pandemic, in intensive care and with family, friends, and players concerned he might not recover.
Saher Hamdan plays center for Life University, except when she's a hooker, a flanker, No. 8 ... or pretty much anywhere in the backline.
This MA Sorensen Award Finalist can play almost anywhere, and she does it all at a high level. A high level,s he stresses, that is maintained by her teammates at Life University.
The D1A playoffs start this weekend with the four teams in that division playing semifinals Saturday and the final on CRAA Finals Weekend on April 30.
Lindenwood faces Penn State in St. Charles, Mo. Lindenwood is 11-0 and has logged impressive wins over women's clubs Life West, Chicago North Shore, Chicago Lions, Colorado Gray Wolves, and the St. Louis Sabres.
The Eastern side of the DIA quarterfinals mirrors the Western side in that one matchup is one we've seen a couple of times before.
The higher-ranked teams all won in the first round of the DIA playoffs Saturday.
BYU and Central Washington won by relatively large margins, while in the lone game in the East, Life had to battle through a tough Navy side.