How do you top the perfect ending to a season? The Penn State Lady Ruggers are wondering this as they will start their spring season this weekend against the Maryland Stingers, a women's club team.

Last year, the Lady Ruggers had a fairytale ending to their season. They won the national championships, something no one could have foreseen.

"Last spring we were at the same place," senior Rachel Hammond said. " It was our road to national championships. We kind of came out of nowhere. Out of 16 teams we were ranked 13 and nobody expected us to go anywhere."

But they proved everyone wrong. They beat Stanford 20-5 in the semifinals. Then, they faced Princeton and came out victorious in a close game that ended 31-22 to secure the championship.

So now the Lady Ruggers have a job to do. They must defend the national title that they worked so hard to earn.

"Everyone's after us," Hammond said.

The first team to get a stab at the Lady Ruggers is James Madison University. The Lady Ruggers will take on JMU on March 24, a game they have to win to get into the playoffs.

Next is the Mid-Atlantic Rugby Football Union tournament. MARFU is a tournament that the Lady Ruggers will participate in on March 31 in Roanoke, Virginia.

"MARFU is a regional tournament and the regional tournament helps us get seeded for the sweet sixteen," Hammond said. "And if we win the sweet sixteen, we make it to nationals."

And the Lady Ruggers are hoping to do just as well at nationals as they did last year. They aren't going to look too far ahead, though.

"We are trying not to foresee too much," senior Christie Winkler said.

Sophomore Devon Boyle said that the team is coming together a lot more. Teammate Emma Holland agreed.

"Two years ago we had a team that was very focused on specific players," Holland said. "And then there was the rest of the team. And I think we kind of got away from that."

The team gets maximum effort from every player, a strength, Boyle said. Though there aren't any standout players, Hammond said the Ruggers are fun to watch.

"I think Americans just in general love action," she said. "And people don't know this, but rugby is just a lot of action. I think people don't know much about rugby, but what people would expect to see is just so much going on at one time."

"In football you reposition every five seconds," Black added. "And with rugby you really don't stop. It's a very exciting game."

The Lady Ruggers are hoping that the excitement will carry them to another national title and gain them recognition for their accomplishments.