TAMPA, Florida – Trinity Western captured the Tropical 7s title after completing a perfect 6-0 weekend with a 12-10 win over Life University in the final Saturday at the Tampa Sportsplex.
Ava Van Santen and
Kelsa Kempf scored the TWU tries in the final, while
Issy Scholtens kicked one conversion to give the Spartans the 12 points they would need to beat Life to win the Tropical 7s for the first time in program history.
The Spartans earned their spot in the final after a 54-7 win over Long Island University in the quarter-finals and a 33-12 victory over Army West Point in the semifinals.
Van Santen scored seven tries on the second day of competition, equaling her seven tries on Friday for a team-leading 14 tries for the tournament.
Kelsa Kempf added four tries on Saturday for a total of six for the tournament.
Issy Scholtens kicked seven conversions on Saturday for a team-high 18 over the weekend.
In TWU's quarter-final win, Van Santen had five tries while Jenna de Greeff,
Hailey Hibbs and Kempf scored one each. Scholtens made seven conversions.
In their second meeting of the weekend against Army, TWU improved upon its one-point pool play victory with a 19-point win that saw Kempf score twice, while
Alex Austin and Van Santen dotted down once each.
The final saw Van Santen and Kempf leading the way with one try apiece in TWU's two-point win.
The Spartans earned the tournament title in their second try after losing in the 2024 Tropical 7s final against Harvard.
Including their final two matches of the Canada West 7s Series, TWU finished the 2025-26 season riding an eight-game winning streak.
Tournament Scoring Totals
Tries
Ava Van Santen: 14
Kelsa Kempf: 6
Hailey Hibbs: 3
Alex Austin: 1
Jenna de Greeff: 1
Sierra Hamilton: 1
Issy Scholtens: 1
Rachel Wood: 1
Conversions
Issy Scholtens: 18
Ava Van Santen: 2
Day 2 Scoring Totals
Tries
Ava Van Santen: 7
Kelsa Kempf: 4
Hailey Hibbs: 1
Alex Austin: 1
Jenna de Greeff: 1
Conversions
Issy Scholtens: 12
Day 1 Scoring Totals
Tries
Ava Van Santen: 7
Hailey Hibbs: 2
Kelsa Kempf: 2
Sierra Hamilton: 1
Issy Scholtens: 1
Rachel Wood: 1
Conversions
Issy Scholtens: 6
Ava Van Santen: 2
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 15 U SPORTS team championships and 35 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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