Fresno State and Santa Clara qualified for spring regionals Saturday. /// Photo: Jackie Finlan
Details for the DII women’s college spring playoffs have been released – sort of.
(*3.14 Update: The original text has been adjusted to reflect match-up changes.)
RELATED: DII College Spring Ranking • Women’s Rugby Results: March 9-12 • Davenport is DII’s Best
Fewer than 16 teams will enter the spring championship, which begins April 8-9. The Upward Star Center in Spartanburg, S.C., will host two of the four pools, and two bracket spots have already been claimed: Capital champion Towson and runner-up Mary Washington, which contest their seasons in the fall.
A third pool will convene at Western Washington University in Bellingham, Wash., for the first two rounds of regionals. The Cascade conference finalists will play West Coast champion Fresno State (read more) and the Gold Coast runner-up (to be determined).
There is no fourth pool, simply because there aren’t enough teams from the west coast to fill out half of the Round of 16. Instead, Gold Coast champion UC Irvine and West Coast runner-up Santa Clara will receive a bye through the Round of 16 and contest a quarterfinal match on April 8. The winner will book a spot in the spring semifinals.
After the Round of 16 and quarterfinal games have concluded, the four semifinalists will meet at Stanford University on April 22-23 for the spring championship. The spring champion will then advance to the DII national championship against fall champion Davenport University in Marietta, Ga.
DII College Spring Championships
• April 8-9, 2017
Round of 16 & Quarterfinals
Spartanburg, S.C.
Upward Star Center
Towson (Capital #1) v Tulane (SIRC #2)
Carolinas #1 v Eckerd (Florida #1)
Spartanburg, S.C.
Upward Star Center
Kennesaw State (SIRC #1) v Carolinas #2
Mid-America #1 v Mary Washington (Capital #2)
Bellingham, Wash.
Western Washington University
Eastern Washington (Cascade #2) v Fresno St (West Coast #1)
Grand Canyon (Gold Coast #2) v Western Washington (Cascade #1)
Irvine, Calif.
Round of 16 bye
Spring Quarterfinal
Santa Clara (West Coast #2) v UC Irvine (Gold Coast #1)
• April 22-23
Palo Alto, Calif. • Stanford University
Spring semifinals & championship
DII National Championship
May 6 • Marietta, Ga. • Life University
Davenport University v spring champion