VANCOUVER – Trinity Western made program history on Saturday, as the women's rugby sevens team finished a best-ever third overall at the Vancouver stop of the Canada West 7s Series after beating both Calgary and Alberta on Day 2 Saturday at Thunderbird Stadium. 

The Spartans finished with a 3-2 overall record to nab third place in what was TWU's first tournament of the 2024 season. TWU's previous best-ever result was fifth at the Victoria stop in 2023. 

Saturday also saw TWU knock off Calgary for the first time in program history, beating the Dinos 15-10 to open the day before taking down Alberta 17-15 to wrap up the tournament. 

Ava Van Santen (Abbotsford, B.C.) led the Spartans offence on Saturday with three tries, including two against the Dinos and one against the Pandas. Danika Dool (Chilliwack, B.C.), Jenna de Greeff (Victoria) and Issy Scholtens (Langley, B.C.) each dotted down once apiece, while Sara Eskildsen (Mexico City) made the lone conversion of the day, which stood as the winning points against Alberta. 

The Spartans Day 2 success followed on the heels of a Day 1 in which TWU earned its first-ever win over Lethbridge, beating the Pronghorns 15-10. 

QUOTABLE
Pose Seumanutafa – TWU Women's Rugby 7s Head Coach
"I'm super proud of the team. It's been a great day, but it was also a very challenging day, with a lot of injuries. For me, as a coach, you know they'll do well, but you're still thinking about how they'll do mentally when the pressure is on a bit. Credit to the team. They pulled together. I think that last win had nothing to do with our ability or skills. They just decided to win. You can't coach that stuff. The players have to come up with that and that's what makes this win so special for me. 

"We didn't change things. It was all about believing that you can do it. I know how hard this team has worked and they've made a lot of sacrifices and it's just so great that they could come out and earn this type of success."

UP NEXT
The Spartans will host the third and final Canada West Women's Rugby 7s series tournament on February 23rd and 24th at the Willoughby Community Park Stadium. 

FINAL TOURNAMENT 2 STANDINGS

             TEAM         W L  D     POINTS
1 UBC                     5  0   0        10
2 Victoria                4  1    0          8
3  TWU                   3  2   0         6 
4   Calgary              1  3.  1         4 
5 Lethbridge            1 4   0         2
6  Alberta                0 4    1          1       
 
Point System: 1st Place - 10 points / 2nd Place - 8 points / 3rd Place - 6 points / 4th Place - 4 points / 5th Place - 2 points / 6th Place - 1 points

DAY 2 SCORING SUMMARY 
Game 10:   Calgary Dinos    10    Trinity Western Spartans   15
Scoring summary:
                1      2      T
CAL:        5      5      10
TWU:      5    10    15
 
3' TWU try - #7 Ava Van Santen   (#9 Jenna De Greeff convert missed)   5-0  TWU
5' CAL try - #7 Melody Kivia  (#5 Sofia Brussoni convert missed)  5-5

HALF

11' TWU try - #7 Ava Van Santen   (#8 Vlada Shevchenko convert missed)   10-5  TWU
12' TWU try - #1 Danika Dool   (#11 Sara Eskildsen convert missed)  15-5 TWU
14' CGY try - #12 Esita Qiodravu (#5 Sofia Bruzzoni convert missed) 15-10 TWU

Game 14:   Alberta Pandas   15   Trinity Western Spartans   17
Scoring summary:
 
                1      2     T
ALB:       10    5     15
TWU:      5    12    17

3' ALB try - #10 Kate Manning  (#15 Michi Gratton convert missed)  5-0 ALB
4' TWU try - #9 Jenna De Greeff  (#9 Jenna De Greeff convert missed)   5-5
7' ALB try - #15 Michi Gratton  (#12 Kate Alcock convert missed)  10-5 ALB

HALF

8' TWU try - #7 Ava Van Santen   (#11 Sara Eskildsen convert)  12-10 TWU
10' TWU try - #5 Issy Scholtens  (#11 Sara Eskildsen convert missed)   17-10 TWU
14' ALB try - #14 Steph Hovdestad  (#12 Kate Alcock convert missed)  17-15 TWU
 
 NOTABLE
•    Prior to TWU's win over Calgary, the Spartans had lost each of their previous seven meetings on the Canada West 7s Series. 
•    The Spartans were playing in their first tournament of the 2024 season after missing the first tournament in Edmonton due to flight cancellations. 

About Spartan Athletics
As official members of U SPORTS, the Spartans currently compete in 13 sports in the Canada West conference, including women's and men's soccer, volleyball, basketball, hockey, cross country and track & field, as well as women's rugby sevens. TWU also competes as an independent team in men's rugby and disc golf. Since TWU entered U SPORTS in 1999, the Spartans have won 13 U SPORTS team championships and 32 Canada West team championships.

-TW-