May Madness 7s is underway at Shrine on Airline in New Orleans, and the 16-team Women’s Premier Division has completed its first round inside the stadium. The losing teams route to the consolation brackets, and the quarterfinals will begin at 10:56 a.m. CT inside the stadium and live on The Rugby Network
Check in with DI Premier brackets as they update live.
The 16 teams are divided into East and West brackets (and have nothing to do with a team’s home location) with eight teams apiece. The West #1 team, Life University, kicked off the tournament at 8 a.m. and defeated Southern Nazarene, a new program out of Oklahoma, 52-0. No. 4 UC Davis and No. 5 Notre Dame followed and provided the competitive match that one would expect from the middle of the bracket.
“Honestly, it’s such a rush; it’s such an honor to be here,” UC Davis senior co-captain Olly Gomez said of being at the CRCs. “I feel really lucky that all of our work that we’ve put in the last year has come to show right here and right now and I hope it keeps going.”
The Aggies defeated the Irish 17-12 and will play Life in the 10:56 a.m. quarterfinal.
“I feel like we’ve worked hard, probably harder than other teams to recover from Covid,” fellow senior co-captain Sydney Strupp said of being at a national tournament. “We don’t have a lot of funding. We had to crowd-source everything. So it’s nice when the underdogs – if you can say that – come out and get to have a big win.”
No. 3 Virginia Tech rallied for a 17-7 win against No. 6 Iowa, and will face No. 2 Grand Canyon in the quarterfinals at 2:36 p.m. The Lopes beat a strong Southern Oregon (#7) team 21-10 to advance to the next round.
In the East side of the bracket, top-ranked Lindenwood opened with a 38-0 win against Boise State (East #8) and will face No. 5 Notre Dame College in the quarterfinals. The Falcons beat Michigan (#4) 22-5 in the Round of 16. Northern Iowa (#3) then beat Clemson (#6) 31-0 and will play Penn State (#2) in the 2:13 p.m. quarterfinals. The Nittany Lions topped Claremont Colleges (#7) 24-12, but the Foxes absolutely stood up to the East Coast powerhouse. The teams were tried 12-12 with a minute to play.
PREMIER RD OF 16
Life 52-0 Southern Nazarene
UC Davis 17-12 Notre Dame
Lindenwood 38-0 Boise State
Notre Dame College 22-5 Michigan
Virginia Tech 17-7 Iowa
Grand Canyon 22-10 Southern Oregon
Northern Iowa 31-0 Clemson
Penn State 24-12 Claremont Colleges
PREMIER QUARTERFINALS (CT)
10:56 a.m. Life Univ v UC Davis
11:18 a.m. Lindenwood v Notre Dame College
2:13 p.m. Penn State v Northern Iowa
2:36 p.m. Grand Canyon v Virginia Tech