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After starting the season with 12 rookies, the Chico State women's rugby team overcame its inexperience to make it all the way to the Elite Eight in the Division-II national tournament in Sanford, Fla.
With the team competing against the nation's top 16 rugby teams, it's an accomplishment in itself, said senior flanker Stephanie Deras.
"When we first started the season in August we had a large rookie class," Deras said. "I didn't think that we were gonna make it this far."
The team put in a lot of effort to get to Florida, spending frugally throughout the year and carpooling to all the away games in order save up money, head coach Mary Triantafyllou said.
"They put so much time and effort into this team, it wares them out," Triantafyllou said. "We spend more time working than some varsity teams and the effort has shown this season."
The team came out strong in its first game against the University of New Mexico on Saturday.
Triantafyllou thought the team seemed confident coming into the game after a long road through the regional playoffs, she said.
Chico applied that confidence on the field defended against the Lobos' quick tries.
"It looked like we were really comfortable out there," Triantafyllou said. "We had a comfortable lead and some momentum."
Spending most of the half in their opponent's territory, Chico State went into halftime with a comfortable 14-5 lead. However, the second half was a different story.
The University of New Mexico came out attacking much quicker, Triantafyllou said. The defensive line seemed to struggle at keeping the Lobo wings at bay.
With less than two minutes left in the game, Chico State was down one player due to a yellow card against flanker Kelsey Harter, while leading 17-10. The Lobos needed a try plus the conversion to tie it up, not having made any conversions so far in the game.
After managing to score a try on the far side of the field, University of New Mexico missed the tough angled kick and Chico State then ran out the clock, giving them the 17-15 win.
"They managed to get the ball out to their wing and scored their third try," Triantafyllou said. "Our defense was smart to make (the wing) score in the corner, making the conversion more difficult."
In the round of eight, Chico State came in as the underdog taking on the well-sized Navy squad Sunday, Triantafyllou said.
Navy beat out the hopeful Chico State women 32-12.
"Whenever you play the teams in the armed forces, you know they are going to be fit," Triantafyllou said before the game.
Chico had filmed Navy's previous game and felt ready to go against the No. 5 team in the tournament, but had played a much tougher match in the round of 16, Triantafyllou said.
Regardless of the loss, Triantafyllou knew getting this far in such a short period of time was a huge accomplishment for the team, she said.
"We did not think we would make it to the Sweet 16 this year," she said.
The coach cited the team's numerous games leading up to the national tournament as a big reason why they succeeded, she said.
"We took the long road to get where we are, but that helped us," Triantafyllou said.
The Navy team found Chico State's weakness and kept attacking the holes players created, flanker Stephanie Deras said.
"To be honest we did an amazing job," Deras said.
Ben Burg can be reached at bburg@theorion.com
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