Photo: Oregon vs. Washington State
There are only a couple of changes to the DI Spring College Ranking, now in its fourth week.
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Chico State used a stiff wind for 38 first-half points against Cal before winning its fifth Pacific Mountain West match 50-7. The Wildcats experimented with some different backline options this match, most notably moving Stefani Bergerhouse from outside center to flyhalf and bringing Ashley Evans in from wing to the center.
Virginia Women’s Rugby (UVA) beat UNC 72-29, knocking the Tar Heels off the ranking. UNC was already in a tenuous position after winning a one-point game against East Carolina, and now USC is in a similar position after a two-point win over NC State. Also of the Mason Dixon, Virginia Tech had a healthy shutout lead over Pittsburgh in the second half when the friendly match was called due to weather and injury.
The vacancy saw UC Davis rejoin. The Aggies were removed last week for inconsistent results, and while Davis lost to Stanford last weekend, the team did improve its point differential. In the previous meeting, Stanford defeated Davis 31-17.
The PMRC North endured snowy conditions and saw Washington State prevail 29-5 over Oregon, and Oregon State 53-18 over Western Washington. The question that surrounds the Pacific Mountain conference is the relative strength of the North and West and the effect on playoffs (read more: playoff set-up). At present, the West’s fourth-place team can challenge the PMRC North’s second-place team for a spot in the conference playoffs. These seeds are weighted on history – the West has been traditionally stronger than the North – but as this season reminds us, things changed year to year.
Finally, Grand Canyon won its fourth league match with a 62-point shutout over visiting UCLA. Jeff Dalton took some nice photos of the match: see more.
