EDMONTON – The Victoria Vikes and UBC Thunderbirds each took control of day one of the University of Alberta Rugby 7s Tournament with perfect 3-0 records, as the Canada West Rugby 7s Series got underway in the dome at Foote Field in Edmonton. Both west coast schools showed flashes of dominance on Saturday with three wins to earn the maximum 12 points.
Victoria, thanks to nine tries from first-year Vike
Paige Farries, earned wins over Fraser Valley (52-0), Lethbridge (42-14), and Calgary (34-14).
"Great start to the tournament, and a great start to our rugby 7s season," said Vikes head coach
Brittany Waters. "We were still a bit rusty in some areas, moving from 15s to 7s, but overall a great performance from our girls today."
Farries' nine tries are a single-day Canada West Rugby 7s record, surpassing the record of seven set last season (Elysa Sandron – CGY; Ciara Malone – UBC). The Red Deer, Alta. product suited up in one season for the Alberta Pandas (2012-13), before making the transition to 7s and joining the Vikes in 2018.
"Paige was excellent today. She has a lot of experience, so not a typical first-year recruit. We had a solid team last year when we won nationals, and a lot of those players returned, and we added a great crop of first-year players like Paige. The recruits have really fit in well, and even raised the level of our whole team this season," said Waters.
UBC, who finished fourth in the CW 7s Series last season with a 5-7 overall record, nearly matched their win output from last season on Saturday, as they knocked off Calgary (26-14), Fraser Valley (22-12), and the host Pandas (24-7). With both UBC and UVic earning three wins on the first day of the two-day tournament, it sets up a dream matchup early on Sunday morning between the two provincial rivals.
The Vikes get their final day of the Alberta tournament underway at 9:00 a.m. when UBC and Victoria clash, they will then play their final round-robin game against the host Alberta Pandas at 12:20 p.m. The medal round begins at 2:20 p.m., with the first-place game set for 3:20 p.m. All of those games can be watched live for free
here
Game 1: Fraser Valley Cascades (0) vs. Victoria Vikes (52)
Scoring summary:
UFV: 0-0: 0
VIC: 35-17: 52
Half
Game 2: Victoria Vikes (42) vs. Lethbridge Pronghorns (14)
Scoring summary:
VIC: 28-14: 42
LET: 7-7: 14
Half
Game 3: Victoria Vikes (34) vs. Calgary Dinos (14)
Scoring summary:
VIC: 17-17: 34
CGY: 7-7: 14
- VIC try – #5 Emily Belchos (Convert missed) – 5-0
- VIC try – #1 Madison Aberg (#5 Emily Belchos Convert) – 12-0
- CGY try – #9 Taejah Thompson (#10 Berlyn Seselja Convert) – 12-7
- VIC try – #8 Gabby Senft (Convert missed) – 17-7
Half
Tournament standings - Day 1
| TEAM |
WINS |
LOSSES |
TIES |
POINTS |
| VIC |
3 |
0 |
0 |
12 |
| UBC |
3 |
0 |
0 |
12 |
| LET |
2 |
1 |
0 |
9 |
| CGY |
1 |
2 |
0 |
6 |
| UFV |
0 |
3 |
0 |
3 |
| ALB |
0 |
3 |
0 |
3 |
NOTE: Teams are awarded 4 pts. for a win, 2 pts. for a draw, and 1 pt. for a loss.
