The Lady Ruggers will find themselves in Roanoke, Virginia this weekend to take part in the Mid-Atlantic Rugby Football Union tournament.

Their first game will be against Princeton, who they beat last year at nationals to become the national champions.

Depending on the outcome of that game, they will either play Virginia or Navy in their next game.

The Lady Ruggers have a history with each of these teams, making competition with them this weekend have more meaning behind it.

Two years ago, UVA took Penn State out of competition for the Sweet Sixteens. The loss to UVA has left a bitter taste in the mouth of some of the Lady Ruggers.

"I'm still upset about that," senior captain Rachel Hammond said. "Since then we've beat them every single time, but I am still upset about that loss."

Navy and Penn State have a history as well, defeating the Lady Ruggers twice last semester. They have had a new coach for two years now, who has made it known that under him, Penn State has never beaten his team.

"That makes us mad," Hammond said. "We want to show that we can handle them."

If Penn State does face Navy this weekend, senior Maria Filippelli said that the Lady Ruggers will put a lot of heart into the game.

"I think everyone is going to be excited for it," she said. "Navy doesn't consider us real important because they have beaten us and I think that they aren't going to know what hit them if we have to play them."

Hammond added that since they haven't beaten Navy in a really long time, they want to get out there and settle the score.

As captain of the team, and a definite leader, Hammond said she is going to remind them that she wants the team to try new things.

"I want to get everyone excited," she said, "by reminding them of our history with these teams."

In practice, the team has been working on lineouts, running low and being dynamic as a player.

"And just really being a threat when you have the ball," Hammond said. "We also talked about punishing the tackler, as well as perfecting our own tackles. We really have to make our tackles this weekend."

Filippelli added that even though Penn State tends to be smaller, its speed and skills make up for that.

"We definitely have the potential to win it, so hopefully we will," she said. "We will see what is out there with competition for Sweet Sixteens."

The Lady Ruggers also hope they will start off the game on the right foot, and not lag early, as they have a tendency to do.

"We are going to focus more on our warm up," Hammond said. "Before the game even starts, we want to have our heads in the game."

It shouldn't be hard for the Lady Ruggers to focus mentally, considering the chip on their shoulder from the history between the teams.

"The rivalry with Penn State goes back a long time," Filippelli said.

"The seniors, when I was a freshman, never liked Princeton. They are not too nice. And, UVA knocked us out of the Sweet Sixteens two years ago. So, it's a personal thing."