Death, taxes and Vassar College at the top of the heap in Women’s Division II seem to be the only sure things at the beginning of this decade. The Brewers won the final two CRAA Women’s Division II XV National Championships in 2021 and 2022 before the Tri-State conference joined NCR. It then took them one year to acclimate before reclaiming the top spot with a 24-5 win over Wisconsin Eau-Claire (UWEC) last year in Houston.
Vassar’s head coach Tony Brown has led the women’s program to 28 winning seasons in the 29 years that he has coached. And the winning does not seem as though it will stop as he enters into his 30th year at the helm. The team returns the three leading scorers overall from Nationals last year, two of whom were named All-Americans: Jude Robinson and Sophia Bailey. Leah Dourmashkin, a rising junior, also returns and will hope to earn an All-American nod this fall.
The win in 2024 evened the championship series with UWEC at 1-1 after the Blugolds defeated the Brewers 32-29 in 2023. But it’s difficult to imagine there being a rubber match in 2025 as UWEC is pulling a reverse Vassar and saying goodbye to three of its top players, including three-time All-American back three player Cerys Ridd. Ridd had one try and three successful conversions at Nationals last Fall and acquitted herself very well on the All-American World Cup tour earlier this summer. The Blugolds also lost All-Americans Heidi Schmelzer, who won the team’s Heart and Soul award in Houston, and Kloee Chamberlain, who captained the backline throughout the playoffs. Those losses, along with the loss of a number of other talented seniors, have led to UWEC dropping to fourth on the Preseason Power 10 rankings, a decision that this author may live to regret come December.
One of the teams to have jumped UWEC in the rankings and one that is primed to contend with Vassar for the top spot in the division is Coast Guard, sitting at number two. The team is riding high off of an exciting run to a CRC 7s championship in April, which saw the Bears dispatch Roger Williams 17-5 in the final despite some costly injuries to key players. One of those players, All-American Kate Boggs who led the CRC’s with 11 tries scored, is on track to return in the fall and will captain the side along with Savannah McBrayer. Coast Guard did lose All-American Avis Akers, but head coach Sarah Price plans to rely on players like Hazel Mitrick to provide some attacking flair, and Madison Murphy to anchor the forward pack. Also, keep an eye on an up and coming young player in Carlee Woolum who might be primed for a breakout in 2025.
Coast Guard will also be celebrating the 25th anniversary of the women's program this year. Will the historical significance of the season give them the boost that they need to overtake Vassar?
We now turn from the Bears to the Bearcats as we look at a Cincinnati side that slots in at number three on the ranking behind Coast Guard. Last year’s fourth-place finisher, Cincinnati has retained a triple double of All-Americans with three two-time honorees continuing to don the black and red. Taylor Powell, Elaina Grayson, and Shannon Swinerton all return for one last ride and hope to be the core that can break the team through the logjam of traditional DII powerhouses. All Star flyhalf Lucy O’Donnell will also be back to help guide the Bearcats attack.
Fairfield, the midway point of the rankings, is losing two pillars from their 2024 front row in All-Americans Kayla Fox and Hannah Bershefsky. Can dual-sport athlete Tatiana Stanton, who also plays ice hockey for the Stags, step up to lead the team in her senior season? Tia earned Defensive Player of the Year honors in both 2023 and 2024 and was named an NCR Scholastic All-American for the 2023-2024 school year. Fairfield played Coast Guard exceptionally close in the quarterfinals last year and will look to build on that performance going forward.
Roger Williams, slotting in at number six, is losing two-time All-American Zoey Cormican along with All-Star and 2024 Fall captain Bianca Caprio. But the Hawks played their way to a second place finish at the CRC’s this Spring and will have one more season of stellar play from Danielle Vogt, who has anchored their backline since her sophomore season. They’re also hoping back three player Natalia Comiskey will have locked up her second career All-American nod once her season is done. Comiskey scored 15 tries and nailed a pair of conversions for a total of 79 points as a sophomore in 2023.
All-American back rower Olivia Hughes returns for her senior season to try and build on William and Mary’s late season success and potentially avenge their 40-0 loss to eventual champs Vassar. William and Mary had an incredible run last fall, fighting their way onto the top 20 coaches poll rankings late in the season, getting all the way up to number four before the start of regionals, where they beat Kennesaw State 36-5. They were officially labeled “underrated” by Wendy Young on The College Rugby Show after a 4-0 start with wins over two ranked opponents, but have they done enough since then to cement their place among the top contenders this Fall?
The number eight team on the rankings, Marquette, shocked UWEC in the conference playoffs last fall with a 12-10 upset victory before falling to Illinois in the conference finals. They also had a great showing at regionals, beating Syracuse 34-19 before losing to Cincinnati 15-27 in the quarterfinal round. The Golden Eagles are losing a few contributing seniors including Danielle Dominy, Mary Oates, and Bridget Clark. But their postseason results are hard to ignore, especially since they did it without any All-Americans on the roster.
Grand Valley State, slotting in at number nine, is losing All-American Emily Dunn along with All-Star Avery Kline. The Lakers were defeated soundly by UWEC in the playoffs, 51-0, but could argue, via the transitive property, that the Blugolds’ victory was a fluke. Marquette, who beat UWEC in conference tournament play while they were ranked number one in the country, went on to lose to Illinois in the Championship round of that tournament. Illinois then went on to lose in the first round of Regionals, however, to a little team called Grand Valley State. You do the math on that one.
Rounding out the Top Ten for 2025 we have the New Hampshire Wildcats. UNH dominated Kennesaw State 49-7 in a play-in to earn themselves a chance to play Vassar at Regionals.
Another team to keep an eye on this season is Towson, who had a strong run at CRC’s in the Spring and return All-American Kelly Greenleaf. Top coaches in the division have their eye on Tigers this fall and are interested to see how they build on last season.
