The University of Virginia enters the first season of Women’s DI-AA collegiate rugby at No 1. With last year’s Division I champion, Wheeling, being elevated alongside six other elite, school-supported programs, the top level of women’s collegiate club rugby is wide open.
“It’s a new landscape, really,” said Keith Cattanach, head coach of second-ranked Northeastern.
“I like it a lot. If I reflect on last season, we were contenders and so were Michigan and Virginia. Wheeling was definitely a powerhouse and a little out of everybody’s league. We’re club teams and self run, so while we have 80 players most of the time, I still have to teach them from the ground up. We’re not able to help get kids into school or offer scholarships.”
“We’re totally thrilled about the DI club split,” added Virginia head coach Nancy Kechner. “We’re a club sport with no money and volunteer coaches.”
No one played juggernaut Wheeling closer than Virginia last year, falling by just four points in the quarterfinals. The Cardinals then beat Northeastern by three scores in the semifinals.
Both of the top-ranked squads return most of their rosters from last year. Northeastern lost just one starter and returned All-Americans Molly McAlevey and Kourtney Bichotte-Dunner. Co-captains Kyra Grimes and Alex Peterson are also key returners.
Virginia lost a handful of contributors from last fall, but also returned a pair of All-Americans in hard-charging prop Taylor Wreath and fullback Kate Delaney. As well as captain and beastly center Milena King. First-year Jess Buckley comes in with senior club experience and looks to make an early impact.
Northeastern will be chased as usual by UConn, who enters the season at No. 9., in the Rugby Northeast, but UMass and Boston College are also on the come up. Virginia will be pushed in conference play No. 8 North Carolina State. Led by Jeff Sommer and Red Walls, the Wolfpack boast a talented roster of around 50 at every training.
Third-ranked Northern Iowa returns all but one from last year’s semifinal team, as junior Sadie Hennings is serving in the Army overseas. All-American flyhalf Morgan Linck is back, and she’ll likely be paired in the midfield with an exciting first-year talent in Macie Graves, a hometown state champion in rugby and wrestling from Cedar Falls High School.
Pushing UNI in the Midwest will be in-state rival Iowa. The Hawkeyes return All-American center Gillian McRae. And Minnesota is hovering just outside the top 10, too.
The Big Ten is represented by fourth-and-fifth-ranked Michigan and Purdue, as well as No. 10 Notre Dame. The Wolverines, national champs in 2022 and 2023, are in a bit of a rebuilding phase, having graduated a big senior class. Anna Rimatzki and Avery Haynes have stepped in as the newly minted captains.
The Fighting Irish return All-American Megan Tremblay (lock), as well as No. 8 Isabel Henderson and Mia Blocher (center), who toured England and the Women’s World Cup with the All-Americans.
Some key match-ups in the new-look DI-AA include Virginia traveling to Ann Arbor, MI Sept. 13 to take on the Wolverines in a huge early season clash. UNI faces an early challenge on Friday Night Lights at Division II powerhouse Wisconsin-Eau Claire Sept. 19. And Virginia tests itself against Wheeling again just before the playoffs Nov. 8.
