Lady Ruggers eliminated from title contention

By JENNIFER BARTOLINI
Collegian Staff Writer

Come May 1, the best collegiate side women's rugby teams will compete in the national championships at Penn State.

The home team, however, will not make an appearance.

In an unexpected upset, the Lady Ruggers fell to Virginia 13-7 Saturday, a loss that knocked the 1997 champions out of the running for nationals. The top two contenders for the title at the season's outset, defending champion Radcliffe and Penn State, have both been eliminated from competition. A new Mid-Atlantic Rugby Football Union (MARFU) format requires teams to win all games en route to the national championships.

Penn State coach Pete Steinberg said he was definitely disappointed in the play of what he described as "the most talented team" of his tenure as coach. He said his team was shocked in the first half by the aggressiveness of the UVA team and simply didn't step to the challenge. Being down 8-0 at the half, Penn State rallied for seven second-half points on a try by Jen Sikora and conversion by Steph Glecos, but it wasn't enough to overcome UVA.

"We were a little overconfident," Steinberg said. "We were probably the better team. They really wanted it, maybe more than we did. In rugby, desire is 90 percent of the battle."

Ten seniors made the trip to Virginia and Steinberg credits them with the successful development of the team. He said they have been the backbone of the squad, teaching new players and gaining valuable experience playing with other teams. For the 10, he said this was probably the most disappointing because expectations were so high.

"Devastated is the word," senior Jen Ellefson said. "Our season is over before it even began. Our careers as Penn State rugby players are over and now our job as seniors is to let other people play and gain experience."

The weekend wasn't a total loss for Penn State as the B-side team won its match, 10-5. From this game, Steinberg said he saw potential for the team in years to come. But more importantly, Steinberg noted that this weekend showed the incredible growth in size, talent and depth of women's rugby in the United States. Four years ago there were three or four other teams in Penn State's division, this year, that number was doubled.

"While this weekend wasn't good for us," he said, "it certainly was good for American women's rugby."

Steinberg hopes his team will learn from its first experience with the new MARFU championship series. He said a team always learns more from its losses.

Where does Penn State go from here? Next Saturday, the Ruggers will play Delaware at Princeton in a second-tier match. Unable to advance, the team looks to wrap up its season and begin to prepare for next year.