Tempe debuts at nationals /// Photo: Tempe Women’s Rugby •
Yesterday we reviewed Pools A and B of the women’s club 7s national championship, and today it’s time for Pools C and D, which play each other in the Cup quarterfinals.
POOL C: Austin, Berkeley, Glendale, San Diego
This group accounts for four national 7s titles, 2011-14. San Diego and Berkeley boast the experience, while Glendale and Austin are the wild cards.
Sevens teams change every year, but one thing has remained the same since the competition’s creation: San Diego is a title contender. The Pool C leader won the 2012 and 2014 titles, and 2015 champion ARPTC named the Surfers its toughest competition last year.
One of ARPTC’s graduates, Hunter Griendling, crossed the country when the OTC called and then played her local ball with San Diego. She sees familiar faces in Tia Blythe, Kara Mathews, Danielle Miano, Deven Owsiany, Kyla Roth, Liz Trujillo and Josie Ziluca, who all represented San Diego at the 2015 championship. This year’s team is bolstered by longtime Surfer Cara Nocero, and sees the return of 15s Rugby World Cup Eagle Lauren Daly back from injury. New faces include UC San Diego scrumhalf Wing Ly and former Fallbrook high school #9 Alex Beckett, who also attends UCSD. The Surfers might have been missing the guidance of 7s coach Richie Walker, who was busy serving as Team USA coach, but there is so much high-level experience, bonded by familiarity, that the Surfers will do well.
Berkeley has always done well, winning titles in 2011 and 2013, but assistant coach Sarah Davis indicated that success this summer has taken time to evolve. Even during the Pacific North championship, the All Blues were still trying to find its form, and did so just in time. In the third-place game, Berkeley defeated Life West 19-12 for the final berth to nationals.
Youth marks the All Blues, as only one player – co-captain Jessica Turner – returns from the 2015 tournament. Watch for collegian Bulou Mataitoga. The club 7s championship is where former AIC coach Dimitri Efthimiou first saw Mataitoga, and he recruited her to the DI varsity program in Massachusetts. She spent last spring earning multiple MVP awards during the varsity 7s series, and is a constant source of go-forward. Cal’s Cathy Kai has also impressed this summer, bringing a heavy does of physicality along with Fehi Schaaf.
The aforementioned are favored to represent Pool C in the Cup quarterfinals, but Glendale and Austin aren’t without. The former hasn’t competed at nationals in five years, and is composed mostly of regular-season Raptors – like Christen Suda, Jeanna Beard and Joanna Kitlinski. Some summer-only Glendale players – like Black Ice’s Lin Hill – and collegians fill out the ranks. Competition has been the Colorado side’s biggest barrier, but the team did travel north to Oregon to test itself against Pacific North and South teams.
The Valkyries debut at nationals thanks to the Red River earning a second seed. The Texans spent the summer playing ARPTC, routinely finishing second but also familiarizing itself with last year’s standard. Austin is missing some of the starters who helped the 15s post-season go well, but coach Luis Sanchez gets great leadership out of captains Danielle Ring and Rachel Haungs.
POOL D: Orlando, ORSU, Scion, Tempe
Like Pool C, this group is separated in two: Those with nationals’ experience, and those without. Scion and ORSU are favored to represent Pool D in the knockouts, and both are competing in their fourth national championship. Scion is now a National Development Academy, and the field will take note of how much influence that upgrade has made. Five Sirens have returned from 2015 – Kimber Rozier, Sam Pankey, Michelle Perna, Kiki Morgan and Maggie Myles – while Eagles Stacey Bridges and Sara Parsons have joined this year’s team. Watch for youngsters Fumie Reyes and Emily Fulbrook to also be influential.
ORSU missed out on last year’s nationals but returned renewed. The Oregon side battled Seattle throughout the summer, and the Pacific North championship came down to the Pacific Northwest teams. By then, the Saracens had figured out how to defend ORSU’s style of offensive, and the result wasn’t as close as previous meetings. It’ll be interesting to see if ORSU took that experience into consideration during the buffer weeks prior to nationals.
ORSU has rostered 14 players and hasn’t chosen its game-day 12 yet. Among the options is San Juanita Moreno, who had served as assistant coach to Nick Cutrell during the summer. The longtime captain was medically cleared for this weekend and may make the cut. She, along with mainstays Beckett Royce, Anna Symonds and Molly Luft are the veterans driving the team forward.
Orlando debuted at nationals last year and finished 15th. A year older and wiser, the team was far and away the best team on the Florida 7s series this summer, and rode that success to the South championship over Charlotte. Jesenia Torres is the on- and off-field leader and has more experience at nationals from when she played in the Pacific Northwest. She links the year-round Orlando players – like Zoe Sanchez and Stephanie Browne – with their sister team University of Central Florida teammates, including standouts like Cortney Keuhl and Jackie Edge. Raoul Besse coaches both teams.
Tempe is the first representative from Arizona to compete at the women’s club 7s championship. The Devils went 4-1 at a tournament in Tucson and then won the Ventura Outlaw 7s before being offered the second SoCal seed to nationals. Tempe has been building its summer 7s program the previous three summers, and leans on Rugby World Cup 7s Eagle Allison Price, Daniela Mogro and Angel Bishop as coaches. Also familiar, Kathryn Pavao co-captains the side alongside Sabrina Brown, and had more than 20 players in rotation this summer. The field is keen to see what Arizona adds to the national scene.
QUARTERFINAL PREDICTIONS: San Diego (Pool C #1) vs. ORSU (Pool D #2), and Scion (Pool D #1) vs. Berkeley (Pool C #2)
The championship kicks off on Saturday, Aug. 13 at Dicks Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colo.
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