EDMONTON – Trinity Western won both of their Sunday matches, beating Calgary and Alberta, to earn an historic second place finish in the opening tournament of the Canada West Rugby 7s Series.
The Spartans finished with a 4-1 record in the round robin tournament to capture second overall, bettering their previous best-ever third-place result at the Vancouver stop in 2024.
On Sunday, the Spartan beat Calgary 31-14, which marked their most decisive win over the Dinos ever, having beat them only once previously, 15-10. The Spartans then capped their tournament with a 12-10 win over Alberta, which ultimately secured second place.
The Spartans were led by
Ava Van Santen, who had four tries in two matches Sunday, while
Hannah Hibbs,
Hailey Hibbs and Jenna De Greeff also scored for TWU on Day 2. De Greeff slotted three conversions and
Issy Scholtens hit one conversion.
Van Santen finished with a team-high five tries over the two-day tournament, while De Greeff scored four,
Danika Dool and
Hailey Hibbs had two each and
Kelsa Kempf and
Hannah Hibbs tallied one apiece.
On Saturday, TWU beat Victoria (12-5) and Lethbridge (31-7) before losing to tournament champions UBC (34-7).
TWU will now return to Langley looking to build off their best-ever performance when the Spartans host the second event on the Canada West Rugby 7s Series Feb. 7-8 at Willoughby Stadium at the Langley Events Centre.
TWU Tournament Scoring
TRIES
Ava Van Santen – 5
Jenna De Greeff – 4
Danika Dool – 2
Hailey Hibbs – 2
Hannah Hibbs – 1
Kelsa Kempf – 1
CONVERSION
Issy Scholtens – 5
Jenna De Greeff – 4
Tournament Standings
TEAM W L POINTS
1 UBC 5 0 20
2 TWU 4 1 17
2 Victoria 3 2 14
2 Alberat 2 3 11
5 Calgary 1 4 8
6 Lethbridge 0 5 5
* Win - 4 Points / Draw - 2 Points / Loss - 1 Point / No Show - 0 points
Canada West Series Standings
Team Points
1st UBC 10
2nd TWU 8
3rd Victoria 6
4th Alberta 4
5th Calgary 2
6th Lethbridge 1
Point System: 1st Place - 10 points / 2nd Place - 8 points / 3rd Place - 6 points / 4th Place - 4 points / 5th Place - 2 points
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
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
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
Calgary Dinos (14) vs Trinity Western (31)
Scoring Summary:
1 2 T
CGY 0 14 14
TWU 17 14 31
TWU try - #6
Ava Van Santen (convert missed) 5-0 TWU
TWU try - #6
Ava Van Santen (#5 Jenna DeGreef convert) 12-0 TWU
TWU try - #8
Hannah Hibbs (convert missed) 17-0 TWU
HALF
CGY try - #5 Sofia Brussoni (#5 Sofia Brussoni convert) 17-7 TWU
TWU try - #6
Ava Van Santen (#4
Issy Scholtens convert) 24-7 TWU
TWU try - #5 Jenna DeGreef (#5 Jenna DeGreef convert) 31-7 TWU
CGY try - #14 Bomi Lawal (#5 Sofia Brussoni convert) 31-14 TWU
Alberta Pandas (10) vs Trinity Western Spartans (12)
Scoring Summary:
1 2 T
ALB 5 5 10
TWU 7 5 12
ALB try - #19 Shaely Moodie (convert missed) 5-0 ALB
TWU try - #6
Ava Van Santen (#5 Jenna DeGreef convert) 7-5 TWU
HALF
TWU try - #15
Hailey Hibbs (convert missed) 12-5 TWU
ALB try - #15 Riley Reid (convert missed) 12-10 TWU
QUOTABLE
Pose Seumanutafa, TWU Head Coach
"Going two from two today was massive for us. We knew we had to stay focused on our process and leave everything on the field in order for us to achieve our goals for the day. I'm really proud of the effort the whole team put in this weekend. Overall, it was a great start to our season."
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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