Last weekend, Vassar’s women’s rugby team made its eighth appearance in the Final Four of the National Collegiate Rugby Fall Championship.
Joining the Brewers in Houston for the event was the University of Illinois, the United States Coast Guard Academy and the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.
Vassar’s first game was a national semifinal matchup against the Coast Guard on Saturday afternoon, which they defeated in the championship game last year. If Vassar was able to win, they would earn the opportunity to play for a third consecutive national championship.
Similar to last year’s national championship, which Vassar won 78-24, this year’s semifinal matchup quickly saw the Brewers build a comfortable lead. At halftime, Vassar led 38-10. The Coast Guard responded with 28 second-half points, but Vassar added 10 more points of their own, advancing to the national championship game with a 48-38 victory. Leading the way for the Brewers was Sophia Bailey ’26 and Asia Baker ’24, who scored three tries each.
“The team played well on Saturday, scoring 48 points and beating Coast Guard,” longtime Head Coach Tony Brown told The Miscellany News in a written correspondence. “In a sport that is so team and unit oriented, sometimes highlighting individuals seems disrespectful to those not mentioned. So with respect to all the squad I want to single out Vassar flanker, Asia Baker [’24], who was tenacious in defense and penetrating on attack carrying the ball. Annie Adams [’25] and Mette McKinney [’26] also shone brightly.”
The next day, Vassar faced off against the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire in a closely contested and exciting championship match that had five lead changes. For comparison, Vassar’s semifinal game did not have any lead changes.
Wisconsin-Eau Claire jumped out to a 17-7 lead, but Vassar closed the gap and led 19-17 at the half. The second half was just as close. With only eight minutes left in the game, the Brewers trailed 27-24 until Jude Robinson ’26 scored and put Vassar ahead 29-27.
As the game neared its conclusion, the pressure was now on Wisconsin-Eau Claire, which they responded to with one final score to regain the lead. Ultimately, the Brewers ended up on the wrong side of the game’s constant back and forth and lost 29-32.
“There were tears aplenty and great disappointment for sure,” Brown admitted. “A day later and after having had time to reflect, I feel that while we had the opportunity to win, the result was fair. UW Eau Claire was a deserved winner.”
Still, it is hard to view Vassar women’s rugby’s latest season as anything but another addition to their long list of tremendous success. As the only Vassar athletics program that competes above the Division III level, women’s rugby has reached the National Collegiate Rugby’s Final in nine of the 10 years since making the move to Division II level competition. Despite the loss, Brown agreed. “Every player raised their game for this weekend,” he said.
With a starting lineup that had only eight returners from last year’s national championship, Vassar once again proved that nobody rebuilds on the fly like they do. When the Spring 2024 season begins next semester, the team will continue to grow with its current roster. The team will lose four starters to graduation this spring but will continue to contend at the national level next fall because of the impressive play it saw from its first-years, sophomores and juniors.
“This squad has grown a lot and improved,” Brown boasted. “We have an incredible group of first year students, three of which started in the final, who will now know what standards are needed to attain if they want to be successful at future Final Fours. Looking forward we need to attain higher fitness levels and develop more depth so that we can have more players contribute sharing the workload.”
Finally, as the man largely credited with the creation of both Vassar’s men’s and women’s rugby program, Brown was proud to see the program well represented in the stands.
“I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the absolutely fantastic fan support this weekend,” he remarked. “To hear parents, siblings, family, friends and alums roaring and rooting for the College was inspiring.”