NCR DII Playoffs Await 1 Conference Championship

National Collegiate Rugby (NCR) knows its women’s Divisions II national quarterfinalists, but is awaiting the outcome of one conference title match before match-ups can be confirmed. The quarterfinals are split between three locations and will occur Saturday, Nov. 12, and the four semifinalists will report to Houston for the Dec. 3-4 national 15s championship.

RELATED: Women’s Rugby Scores: Oct. 28-30

In the West, Mid-America champ Wayne State College will host Lone Star champ Univ. Texas San Antonio in Wayne, Neb. UTSA was supposed to play Texas Tech in the conference final last Saturday, but Tech forfeited. When the teams met in the regular season, UTSA prevailed 44-32.

In Culpepper, Va., South Atlantic champion Coastal Carolina will see Rugby Northeast champ Roger Williams. Coastal Carolina beat Georgia Tech 37-21 in the SARC final at Lander University last Saturday.

 

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Roger Williams, which qualifies as a Small College and plays up in NCR’s DII (like Wayne State College), was originally scheduled to play the Colonial Coast’s Salve Regina on Friday, but CRAA’s Providence College stepped in for a non-conference game. The Friars won 41-36. The Hawks have another quality game lined up against top Rugby Northeast Small College Colby this Saturday.

Elkhart, Ind., will host two of the four quarterfinals on Nov. 12. As mentioned in the previous update, Bowling Green State and Cincinnati clinched their berths out of the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley conferences, respectively. Cincinnati will face the Great Waters champion, which will be decided this Saturday between Marquette and UW Eau Claire. Bowling Green’s opponent is to-be-determined by an at-large bid, but the runners-up from Great Lakes (Grand Valley State) and Great Waters would be excellent options.

The four winners then have three weeks to prepare for their trips to Texas, where the semifinals and final will occur on Dec. 3-4. The DII national championship will be part of a big weekend that also includes Small College (read: playoff update) and Division I (read: playoff update) national championships.