EDMONTON – Trinity Western's women's rugby team earned an historic first-ever win over Victoria on the first day of the opening tournament of the Canada West Rugby 7s Series, beating the Vikes 12-5 to spark a strong day for the Spartans, which saw the Langley-based side go 2-1 at the Dome at Foote Field.
Following their win over Victoria, the Spartans beat Lethbridge 31-7 before losing 34-7 against the two-time defending CW champion UBC Thunderbirds.
Jenna De Greeff led the way offensively, scoring three tries and adding a conversion for a 17-point day.
Danika Dool scored two tries and
Issy Scholtens had four conversions.
Kelsa Kempf and
Hailey Hibbs both scored one try apiece in their Canada West debuts, while
Ava Van Santen, who was a conference all-star in 2024, also dotted down once.
Through Day 1, TWU is tied with Alberta and Victoria for second in the standings. The tournament wraps up Sunday with all six teams playing two matches each to complete the round robin event.
TRIES
Danika Dool – 2
Kelsa Kempf
Hailey Hibbs
Jenna De Greeff – 3
Ava Van Santen
CONVERSION
Issy Scholtens – 4
Jenna De Greeff – 1
STANDINGS – Through Day 1
TEAM W L POINTS
1 UBC 3 0 12
2 Victoria 2 1 9
2 Alberta 2 1 9
2 Trinity Western 2 1 9
5 Calgary 0 3 3
6 Lethbridge 0 3 3
* Win - 4 Points / Draw - 2 Points / Loss - 1 Point / No Show - 0 points
QUOTABLE
Pose Seumanutafa, Women's Coach
"We know we didn't play as well as we should to start the first day of the tournament, but we are very pleased with the outcome of the first day. We beat UVIC for the first ever in our history and Lethbridge and we lost to UBC for the final game of the day. As a coach I'm super proud of the girls."
Game 2: Trinity Western Spartans (12) vs Victoria Vikes (5)
Scoring Summary:
1 2 T
TWU 5 7 12
VIC 5 0 5
TWU try - #7
Kelsa Kempf (convert missed) 5-0 TWU
VIC try - #7 Shaye Ogurek (convert missed) 5-5
HALF
TWU try - #3
Danika Dool (#4
Issy Scholtens) 12-5 TWU
Game 4: Trinity Western Spartans (31) vs Lethbridge Pronghorns (7)
Scoring Summary:
1 2 T
TWU 12 19 31
LET 7 0 7
TWU try - #15
Hailey Hibbs (#4
Issy Scholtens convert) 7-0 TWU
TWU try - #5 Jenna De Greef (convert missed) 12-0 TWU
LET try - #6 Zina Umeh (#6 Zina Umeh convert) 12-7 TWU
HALF
TWU try - #6
Ava Van Santen (convert missed) 17-7 TWU
TWU try - #3
Danika Dool (#4
Issy Scholtens convert) 24-7 TWU
TWU try - #5 Jenna De Greef (#5 Jenna De Greef convert) 31-7 TWU
Game 7: UBC Thunderbirds (34) vs Trinity Western Spartans (7)
Scoring Summary:
1 2 T
UBC 17 17 34
TWU 0 7 5
UBC try - #10 Tia Jordo (convert missed) 5-0 UBC
UBC try - #10 Tia Jordo (convert missed) 10-0 UBC
UBC try - #11 Adia Pye (#12 Lana Dueck convert) 17-0 UBC
HALF
UBC try - #11 Adia Pye (#12 Lana Dueck convert) 24-0 UBC
TWU try - #5 Jenna De Greef (#4
Issy Scholtens convert) 24-7 UBC
UBC try - #1 Kiki Idowu (convert missed) 29-7 UBC
UBC try - #14 Brooke Roddham (convert missed) 34-7 UBC
NEXT UP
Day 2 sees the Spartans take on Calgary at 10 a.m. (MT) before wrapping up the round robin tournament against the host Alberta Pandas at 1 p.m. (MT).
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 women's and men's disc golf. Since TWU entered U SPORTS in 1999, the Spartans have won 14 U SPORTS team championships and 34 Canada West team championships.
About Trinity Western University
Recognized for quality, TWU has received seven consecutive A+ rankings for Quality of Teaching and Learning, holds three Canada Research Chairs, and wins national championships in CIS sports. More importantly, lives are changed at TWU through its whole-person, Christ-centred approach to education. With a wide array of undergraduate, graduate, and adult degree-completion programs, TWU equips leaders of character and competence to make a positive impact in the lives of others.
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