College Women
The DII fall championship enters its penultimate weekend, as the field of 16 shrinks down to four semifinalists. A lot of playoff rugby has occurred since our previous rankings, and we lend some explanation to the moves.
Cincinnati is only four years old as a program, and the team is hoping to progress farther into the DII fall championship than it did last year. In 2014, UC’s run ended in the Round of 16 against a very strong Ithaca College, but the team has picked up some lessons since then, and readies for the Midwest regionals this weekend in Pittsburgh.
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.
Winona was ready to get its post-season underway. The Black Katts went through the Northern Lights conference with little resistance, and used that time to get its younger players lots of playing time. Last Saturday, the Minnesota side saw the return of some key players who had been absent due to injury, and they contributed to a 114-5 win over Univ.
Since the creation of the Ivy League conference, it has always been Brown, Dartmouth, Harvard, and Princeton occupying the top tier of the women’s competition. This year, the quartet pursued different post-season paths beyond the conference championship. All but Princeton aligned with the new varsity championship, which contested its quarterfinals last weekend.