This is the first big weekend of the spring, where club, college and high school leagues are in full swing and/or moving into post-season play. See the full lineup here and check back for scores.
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High schools really take off this weekend and that action necessitates the return of the rankings (to be published on Wednesday, March 22). California, Idaho, Indiana, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Utah and Washington are all contesting league games. Among the matches to watch:
– Utah’s United vs. Herriman, a rematch of the 2016 state championship;
– NorCal’s Sacramento Amazons vs. Land Park, which won the NorCal invitational last weekend;
– Nash Bash standout (read more) Valkyries vs. White Horse, which bumped up from Pennsylvania’s DII;
– Valley Panthers vs. Lady Barbarians in Oregon, where the 15s division has recombined for the regular season and will re-divide into single-school and club for state championships; and
– and Kent vs. Rainier Plateau, a rematch of the 2016 state championship.
The collegiate sphere is naming is naming more post-season representatives. The Southern Independent Rugby Conference (SIRC) is holding its final four in Kennesaw State, where the host will play Alabama Saturday in the semifinals, and Tulane will face Clemson. Sunday’s finalists will advance to the DII spring Round of 16. Read more about DII spring championships.
The DI Mason Dixon conference will be one step closer to naming its three reps as well. Three of the originally planned quarterfinals will take place (Temple forfeited to UVA) at the higher seed’s home field, and the semifinalists will sort out the final four on March 25-26:
East Carolina (South #4) v James Madison (North #1)
UNC (South #3) v Kent State (North #2)
Pittsburgh (North #3) v Virginia Tech (South #2)
UVA (South #1) fft win v Temple (North #4)
In the DII Gold Coast, the Long Beach State vs. Grand Canyon match will determine the conference’s second seed to the spring Round of 16 and afford a trip to Bellingham, Wash. If Kansas State beats Benedictine, then it will win Mid-America’s West on bonus points over John Brown (see standings). In DII Carolinas, two undefeated sides in USC and Coastal Carolinas face off. And in DI Elite friendlies, BYU plays New Mexico, while Life plays the Atlanta Harlequins’ WPL side.
In the Carolinas-Georgia league, the Charlotte v Atlanta D2 game is the one to watch. In NorCal, the Life West vs. SFGG game is essentially a preview of the league championship. And in DII Pacific South, all eyes are on Ventura vs. Fullerton.
Stay tuned.