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AHO women’s rugby starts season strong |
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Thursday, 07 February 2008 |
 Junior public relations major Jess “Mess” Hudson fights past defenders during the women’s rugby practice at Kidd Brewer Stadium Tuesday night. Photo by Derek DeSha
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by ASHLEY DAVIS
Sports Reporter
In the fall Saturdays seem reserved for football- but in the spring, on State Farm Field, Saturday’s a day for rugby.
Appalachian State University’s women’s club rugby football team, also known as AHO Rugby, is beginning its more competitive semester of the school year - the matrix season. Matrix for the women’s team will involve three conference games against the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina State University, and Clemson University.
The women began their semester with a pre-matrix match Saturday against
an N.C. State team filled with substitutes from the likes of UNC and
the Raleigh Venom Women’s Rugby club. Venom is a professional team made
up of women in their 20s.
However, Appalachian had no problem routing N.C. State, with a final score of 49-5.
“It’s such a big deal for us,” said co-captain Rebecca C. Martin, a
senior sociology major. “They had five to nine Venom players on their
team,...talented players, and they still only scored once.”
While the team is proud of its opening win, it still acknowledges the amount of work they have in store for them this semester.
“The games we play...will determine which teams will advance to
regionals, then to nationals,” president and junior journalism major
Sarah M. Mosseller said. “Our ultimate goal is to go back to nationals.”
The women’s team advanced to the national competition for the first time in the club’s history last season.
“It’s an additional pressure,” Martin said. “Now the teams that we
face, they want to beat AHO not just because we’re AHO [but] we’re the
team that went to nationals last year.”
The women will face an extra obstacle this year as they are required to win both of their regional matches this season.
Last season they advanced to finals after winning only one of two regional games.
In addition to a change in the criteria to reach nationals, over half of AHO’s starters are rookies.
“Every practice we’re refocusing on the fundamentals of tackling, ball
movement, and weak-side,” Martin said. “Before each game we spend a
practice and a half focusing on what we will be facing with our
upcoming game. We usually take what we learn from the previous game and
assess what we did poorly, trying to improve on that.”
Previously known for jumper Amanda Watkins who graduated in December
2007, the team has found themselves with new jumpers, lifters, as well
as a new eight-man and thrower.
“Amanda was the best jumper in the conference and maybe the best jumper
in the South,” Martin said. “This is something we were known for and
now we have to find other things.”
Even though the team is young, the team is showing a lot of drive for another trip to nationals.
“The team I played for my freshman year and the team now are polar
opposites,” Mosseller said. “The level of dedication and emphasis on
competition has grown substantially... We are working extremely hard to
make AHO Rugby the name for women’s rugby not only in North Carolina,
but in the South.”
This coming Saturday will find the women at Clemson University in their first official matrix match of the semester.
“To beat Clemson we have to come out strong from the minute the match
starts until the whistle blows,” Mosseller said. “Clemson has a
tendency to sneak in a try just as the clock runs out.”
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