This past weekend the Penn State Women hosted a leg of the BIG Ten 7s series on Sunday April 9th and competed against Women’s Division 1 team the Pittsburgh Angels on Saturday April 8th.  They finished the weekend with a 65-5 win over the Angels and outscored their opponents 257-5 through the course of Sunday’s 7s tournament.

Finally spring in State College, both competitions this weekend were in the sun and Kayla Gibbons broke through the defense to start the scoring against the Pittsburgh Angels. Additional tries in the first half would go to Kayla Canett, Scout Cheeks, Amanda Berta and Katie O’ Hare; made possible by excellent ball movement and use of the field and great support lines.  Penn State would head into the 2nd half with a 43-5 lead and fresh legs coming off the bench.  The Pittsburgh Angels were unable to respond to Penn State’s continuous pressure and despite a fierce battle in Penn State’s 22 for the last 5 minutes of the game, the lions walked away with a 65-5 victory.

Captain Francesca Schaefer was impressed with the depth the team exhibited, “We were able to play a lot of folks through the course of the game with little drop off in quality but we still have a long way to go to perform at our best 1 through 45.”

Sunday’s 2nd leg of the Big 10 7s Series included, Penn State, Rutgers 1 and University of Michigan in Pool A and Indiana, Ohio State, and Rutgers 2 in Pool B.  Penn State would kick the tournament, and their 7s season, off against Rutgers 1 at 10am and come away with a 66-0 win.

Junior Nursing major, Tess Feury said “I was really happy with our continuity and handling for our first game playing sevens this season.  We have a good platform to build on going forward.” The Nittany lions did continue to build through the course of the day, defeating University of Michigan, winner of the 1st leg of the Big 10 7s series, 49-0 to end pool play.

With two decisive victories Penn State won their pool and was seeded #1 and awarded a bye going into the knockout rds.  1st game would pit PSU against 6th seeded Rutgers 1 for a rematch.  Despite a valiant effort by Rutgers 1 the Nittany Lions would take the match 73-0 and set themselves up for a Final against University of Michigan.  The final would see University of Michigan make 3 line breaks and successfully convert one into a try accounting for the single score PSU would let in for the tournament.  Despite Michigan’s tenacity, Penn State would be named the tourney champions with a 69-5 final score.  With this win Penn State hopes to qualify for the USARugby 7s championships in Denver May 21 & 22 but automatic qualifying status has not been assigned by USARugby


Next weekend your Lions are at home and will square off against Divison II women’s team Harrisburg and Women’s Premier League team the DC Furies.  The men are also at home versus Army in the Varsity Cup Quarter Finals after defeating Harvard away this past weekend.

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