CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Trinity Western's women's rugby sevens team will be coming home from the Crimson 7s tournament at Harvard University with a second-place finish after posting a 3-1 overall record Saturday at Mignone Field. 

After winning their three pool play contests, beating Long Island University (47-0), American International College (15-7) and Brown University (26-5), to earn a spot in the Cup Final, the Spartan lost to Army West Point 22-10 in the championship match. 

Ava Van Santen led the Spartans with six tries, while Kelsa Kempf had four tries, Jenna de Greeff and Hailey Hibbs had two tries each and Rachel Wood and Issy Scholtens scored one apiece. Scholtens also kicked seven conversions, while de Greeff and Michelle Veerman slotted one conversion each. 

TWU's second-place finish marks the second time in two NCAA tournaments that the Spartans have made it to a Cup Final. TWU also earned a second-place result at the 2024 Tropical 7s tournament in Florida.

In the Cup Final against Army West Point, the Spartans trailed 10-0 aft halftime before an Ava Van Santen try in the ninth minute closed the gap to 10-5. However, Army responded with back-to-back tries to secure the win. Kelsa Kempf rounded out the scoring with a try on the last play of the match.

TWU opened the tournament with a convincing win over LIU, scoring seven tries on their way to a 47-0 victory. Kempf scored three tries, while Jenna de Greeff, Hailey Hibbs, Rachel Wood and Van Santen scored once apiece. Issy Scholtens made five conversions and Michelle Veerman slotted one.

The closest game of pool play saw the Spartans edge AIC with TWU rallying from an early deficit to score three unanswered tries. Van Santen scored late in the first half to pull TWU within two points, 7-5, at the break, before Hibbs scored to put TWU ahead in the 10th minute. Van Santen tallied again with a minute to play to ensure victory for the Spartans. 

Against Brown, the Spartans went head 12-0 at halftime on tries be de Greeff and Issy Scholtens before Van Santen dotted down twice in the second half to book their ticket to final with a 26-5 win. 

TWU is 8-2 all-time against NCAA competition after winning a silver medal with a 5-1 overall record at last year's Tropical 7s tournament, which saw the Spartans earn wins over Army West Point, Clemson, Dartmouth, Quinnipiac and Brown before a loss to Harvard in the Championship Final.

QUOTABLE
Andrew Evans, TWU Director of Rugby
"We are truly honoured to have been invited to compete in the Harvard Crimson 7s, and we want to extend our heartfelt thanks to Coach Mel Denham and her staff for this incredible opportunity. Playing in the USA, facing Ivy League teams, and making it to the Cup Final is a memorable achievement for our team. We started strong with a solid win against LIU, then faced two challenging matches against AIC and Brown, ultimately securing our spot in the final against Army West Point. Reaching the Cup Final was a proud moment for our Spartans, especially as we had the privilege of representing Canada and singing 'O Canada' alongside 'The Star Spangled Banner,' symbolizing the bond and respect shared between our Canadian and American friends. Lastly, today marked the end of their Spartan careers for our seniors—Ella (Jimenez), Vlada (Shevchenko), and Danika (Dool). We are incredibly grateful for their time, dedication, and leadership, which have played a key role in shaping Spartan rugby."
 
Stuart Crowley, TWU Assistant Coach 
"Playing at such a storied institution as Harvard was indeed a privilege for everyone involved in the trip. The tournament was well-run and extremely organized, and the competition was definitely challenging. The Spartan women represented both Spartan Athletics and themselves very well, with a comprehensive win over Long Island University to start the day. The team was tested against American International College in the second game and for our third and final pool game, against Brown University, we set the challenge to find the balance between sticking to our system and backing ourselves to attack when the opportunities were there, and we did so very well, playing one of our best matches of the season to get past Brown and into the final against West Point Army. We put Army under pressure early, but we weren't as accurate as we needed to be, and we finished the day second overall – a result that the team is justifiably proud of. This was a fitting send-off for our seniors, and a great way to cap off our most successful season of Spartans women's rugby to date."

TWU SCORING
Tries 
Ava Van Santen – 6
Kelsa Kempf – 4
Jenna de Greeff – 2
Hailey Hibbs – 2
Rachel Wood – 1
Issy Scholtens – 1  

Conversions
Issy Scholtens – 7
Michelle Veerman – 1
Jenna de Greeff – 1

POOL PLAY
TRINITY WESTERN 47 LONG ISLAND 0
1' – Kelsa Kempf TRY, Issy Scholtens CONVERSION (7-0)
3' – Jenna de Greeff TRY, Issy Scholtens CONVERSION (14-0)
5' – Ava Van Santen TRY (19-0)
7' – Kelsa Kempf TRY, Issy Scholtens CONVERSION (26-0)

8' – Hailey Hibbs TRY, Issy Scholtens CONVERSION (33-0)
10' – Kelsa Kempf TRY, Issy Scholtens CONVERSION (40-0)
14' – Rachel Wood TRY, Michelle Veerman CONVERSION (47-0)

TRINITY WESTERN 15 AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL 7
6' – Ava Van Santen TRY (5-7)

10' – Hailey Hibbs TRY (10-7)
13' – Ava Van Santen TRY (15-7)

TRINITY WESTERN 26 BROWN 5
1' – Jenna de Greeff TRY (5-0)
4' – Issy Scholtens TRY, Issy Scholtens CONVERSION (12-0)

10' – Ava Van Santen TRY, Issy Scholtens CONVERSION (19-0)
14' – Ava Van Santen TRY, Jenna de Greeff CONVERSION (26-5)

CUP FINAL 
TRINITY WESTERN 10 ARMY 22
9' – Ava Van Santen TRY (5-10)
14' – Kelsa Kempf TRY (10-22)

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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