Poughkeepsie, NY (December 8, 2016)- The Vassar College women's rugby team traveled to South Carolina last week to compete in the final four. While they placed third overall in the tournament, their impressive effort against Davenport in the semifinal saw them move up to claim the number two spot in The Rugby Breakdown's national rankings.
 
The Brewers have had an incredible fall season, putting together a 12-2 record overall (12-1 in Division II play). Their efforts throughout the season were enough to earn them the number three position in The Rugby Breakdown's national rankings going into the semifinals in South Carolina. The 2015 champions and runners-up, Davenport and Winona, held the number one and number two spots.
 
The Brewers played reigning champions Davenport to a 47-32 loss in the semifinal before winning their consolation match to earn third place. While The Rugby Breakdown would traditionally base their final rankings on the results of the tournament, this year they felt that there were other factors to consider.
 
The Brewers played Davenport to a hard-fought 47-32 loss, giving Davenport their closest match of the season. At one point the Brewers were within one try of tying up the match and at the end of the day each team had put six tries on the board, but Davenport earned 15 more points from the kicking tee to give them the victory.

On Sunday, Vassar played against Coast Guard for third place, picking up a 15-10 victory despite cold, rainy conditions that made it difficult to maintain possession of the ball. Winona state played Davenport to a 37-0 loss, earning them second place in the tournament.  Despite the final results of the tournament, The Rugby Breakdown felt that Vassar had done a better job of enforcing their game against Davenport and that as a team, Vassar's clever, disciplined style of play earned them the number two position over Winona's individual athleticism.
 
With their number two finish, this year's team has earned the highest national ranking of any Vassar rugby team in division two play. When asked about this year's incredible season and the future of Vassar rugby, captain Nathalie Freeman expressed great pride and confidence in the team. "I'm extremely proud to have been a captain this season, just to see everyone grow and ending the season with the highest ranking Vassar has ever had is an incredible feat and I'm really proud." said Freeman. Regarding next year's team, Freeman has high expectations. "I'm confident that since we're only losing five starters, next year everyone will be able to take what they learned this season and improve even more." said the captain. "I wont be surprised if next year they make it to the final four and take home gold."
 
The Brewers will have a chance to prepare for next year's Fall season with several friendly 15s matches scheduled for the Spring. They will also be playing competitive sevens throughout the season, where they will focus on repeating as the Tri-State sevens champions. Congrats to the Brewers on an incredible fall season.