Wheeling, W. Va. - After an undefeated 15's season, the Wheeling University Women's Rugby team gets ready to take the field for their second 7's season in program history. The Cardinals begin the run on Saturday, when they travel to James Madison University to take on the Valley 7's beginning at 9:30 AM. After making it to the Collegiate Rugby Championship (CRC) National 7's in their first season, the Cardinals look to take it a step further and compete for their first-ever 7's National title.
In their inaugural 7's season, the Cardinals finished 19-6-1 in the regular season, competing across six regular season tournaments. They started things off at the Frostbite 7's, going 3-3 across the six games, defeating West Chester to end the run. That win would give them momentum heading into their home Wheeling 7's Tournament, and the Cardinals would pick up their first 7's win in program history with a 5-0 day. It was the first of three regular season tournament wins, and the Cardinals headed to the CRC National 7's tournament ranked in the top three in the East Region. They would pick up their first National Tournament win against Bowdoin College, but fell out of championship contention with a 31-14 loss to AIC. They would move to the consolation bracket, where they picked up a win over the University of New Haven, before falling in a 34-12 match-up with Queens to end their season.
The Cardinals will have several of their key players from last year's 7's run back on the pitch, led by Alexis Dallas. Dallas played an important role in the Cardinal's inaugural season, tying for the team lead with 14 tried while putting up a team-best 78 points. After leading the team in tries during the fall season, Dallas continued that success into her first-ever 7's season with the Cardinals. She used her power in the middle of the pitch to get the Cardinals across the try line, while also showing her ability in the kicking game. She would attempt five conversion kicks on the season, making four of those for an 80% clip in the kicking game. She will be the veteran captain for the Cardinals during the spring and will look to continue to be a leader through the spring.
Joining her in the veteran leadership group will be senior Liz Sinatra, who used her speed on the sidelines from the wing position. She would finish the spring with seven tries, while adding one conversion kick to total 7 points. She showed off that speed during the fall as well, scoring five tries during 15's season, and looks to use the open field to her advantage. She sets herself up as an outside threat for the offense and will be one of two senior leaders on this year's 7's team. The other senior leader is Captain Ema Tai, who has been a leader since the program first came to campus in 2024-2025. During the 2025 7's season, Tai would score seven tries and accounted for 35 points, but her real impact was felt on the defensive end. She finished second on the Cardinals in tackles last 7's season and looks to continue being the vocal leader for the group heading into this 7's season.
Tournament Details
The Valley 7's Tournament will be the Cardinals first chance to take the pitch, competing at a smaller tournament with top teams in the field. They will have three pool play matches, with start times beginning at early as 9:30 AM, followed by placement matches beginning at 2 PM. Included in the field will be a pair of teams from James Madison University, split into purple and gold squads, as well as the University of North Carolina on the pool play schedule. After all four teams have played each other, the teams will be separated into the placement matches based on their pool play finish. The third place match will kick the day off at 2 PM, followed by the Valley 7's Tournament Championship at 2:20 PM. All games during the tournament will be played at John Carr Field on the campus of James Madison University.
The Details
The first match for Saturday's Valley 7's is scheduled for 9:30 AM, when Wheeling battles the John Marshall purple team. Stay tuned to wucardinals.com all day long for a complete recap following tournament action.
