UVA’s Zoe Schmitt during the 2016 DI Spring Championship. /// Photo: Jackie Finlan
Life University will host North Carolina, Central Florida and Virginia Women’s Rugby (UVA) during this weekend’s Women’s DI College Spring Round of 16. Saturday’s victors will guarantee their return trips to Marietta, Ga., for the May 5-6 championship weekend. Quarterfinal winners will compete toward the DI Elite national championship, while quarterfinal losers will compete toward the DI spring championship.
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Life University will kick off the day at 11 a.m. Eastern against North Carolina. The Running Eagles have played a mix of 7s and 15s this spring, competing in the D.C. Ruggerfest and hosting its own USA Rugby 7s national qualifier. The program tested itself against Women’s Premier League and DI senior clubs as well as DI Elite college teams.
Players like Darian Lovelace, Kaitlyn Broughton, Kim Semiglia, Whitney Wilson, Cynthia Kelly and Madison Ohmann represent a sample of the influential players on Life’s deep roster. They set the foundation for young standouts like Alex Sedrick and Taylor Makowski to express themselves.
“We are always focused on constant improvement, and we’re going into playoffs knowing we will face tough opposition,” Life University coach Ros Chou explained. “In the build-up, we’ve emphasized our defensive structure, decision-making, adaptability, and executing the fundamentals well. We can only take it one match at a time and look forward to the competition we’ll face against a very good North Carolina side.”
UNC is a familiar entity in the post-season, but this spring season initially ended during the Mason Dixon quarterfinals, as the Tar Heels traveled to Kent State and suffered a 46-0 loss. When it came time to fill out the Spring Round of 16, Florida’s second seed – the University of Florida – withdrew, and now UNC is back in the mix.
UNC has second life and that brings a unique energy to the pitch. The competition is grateful to have the team travel to Georgia, avoiding a first-round bye for one team.
Interest centers on the second match of the day between UVA and Central Florida at 1 p.m. Eastern. The former is the 2016 DI spring runner-up, and the latter is hitting that phase of the cycle where everything is coming together.
“This year is absolutely special and unique,” UCF co-captain Sara Karuli asserted. “We have a team stronger than ever and more experienced. Our forward pack is made up of mostly vets with a few rookies here and there, but overall this team has been working for at least 2-3 years for this.
“For most of us, this is our last year and we want it now more than we ever have,” Karuli continued. “You can feel that on the field – that passion, that thirst for the win, that cohesiveness.”
Per tradition, UCF has dominated the Florida landscape and looked toward out-of-state tournaments for additional competition. Several UCF players participate in the Florida High Performance Program and impressed at the LVI 7s. Co-captain Julia Philips also explained that the team has integrated new fitness drills that push the players’ personal bests.
UCF has a size advantage, generally, but especially over UVA. Nancy Kechner’s squad is acutely aware of that factor but is coming in prepared.
“We’ve added some new wrinkles to our game – including our forwards more,” Kechner explained. “While they’re small, they have a really high work rate, so we don’t just go wide on teams anymore. Playing teams like [James Madison] and Virginia Tech – who both really know us – taught us to change it up a bit.”
UVA repeated as Mason Dixon champion this year, and while the team won its games convincingly, they benefitted from an early-season push from Virginia Tech and the addition of new competition in Kent State. None of the conference teams, however, boast the type of pack power that UCF showcases.
“We’re going to have to earn turnover ball to disrupt their forwards,” Kechner explained. “The game is 80 minutes, and we intend to play hard every minute. That’s probably what we learned from last year.”
Kechner referenced the 2016 spring final when UC Davis scored the game-winning try in the waning minutes of the match, 30-25.
“We don’t really have anything unresolved from last year,” Kechner countered. “We played a great game against a very good UC Davis side. We let up on defense at the end, and it cost us.”
UVA has a good backline with players like Frankie Beller, Zoe Schmitt and Joy Jefferson in the middle of it all, but will be missing Summer Harris-Jones to an injured hamstring. That’s a big loss.
DI COLLEGE SPRING CHAMPIONSHIP
Marietta, Ga.
Saturday, April 22
Round of 16 (all times Eastern)
11 a.m. Life vs. North Carolina
1 p.m. Central Florida vs. UVA
Sunday, April 23
10 a.m. Consolation
12 p.m. Quarterfinal