KENNESAW, Ga. - On the second day of the USA Rugby 7s Collegiate Championship, Davenport faced Princeton and the United States Naval Academy. Davenport came into these matches with a calm confidence. They wanted to ensure their system of play was executed flawlessly, and that's exactly what happened. They maintained their composure and just simply played rugby. The final score against Princeton was 17-5. Tries for the Princeton match were made by Megan Bird (2x) and Aubrey Crist. Defense included some big hits from Mariah Pruitt and Grace Gohl. Securing this win took them to the Championship game facing Navy.

In the locker room nerves were at an all-time high, but once the girls did their Day by Day chant, tensions subsided and turned into excitement. Their first try in the game was scored by Bird, and gave the team the confidence they needed to secure their spot as winners the rest of the match. Abigail Kowalczk was able to break through the defense resulting in another try for the weekend. Seamless ball handling skills by Bethany Gable and Elizabeth O'Connor, and multiple big hits by Adilene Ochoa assisted in securing the win. Nearing the end of the match, Navy had already received a yellow card, but received another penalty resulting in the last try of the match. The penalty was related to the attempt by Navy to intercept when Aubrey Crist was passing to Grace Gohl that would have resulted in a try. The sir awarded Davenport a penalty try resulting in the winning score of 24-17. The victory against Navy resulted in Davenport securing the National Championship for the Red Division this weekend. 

How do you feel coming into the second day of the National Championships?

"Considering we've lost two of our starters (Lauren Peterson and Valencia Goldsmith) due to injury, which can hurt us speed wise, but we're still solid with reserves. Everyone should fill in just fine and I'm feeling pretty confident "- Head Coach Greg Teliczan

Story by: Taylor Badal