Tennessee returned to the national tournament with a trip to Greenville, North Carolina to take on Western Michigan in the opening quarterfinal round.
The Volunteers fell behind to the sizeable Broncos in the first half and despite a tremendous effort in the second half just couldn't fight their way back into the match, losing 38-22. Western outscored the Vols 6 tries to 4 by controlling the contact area and field position for most of the afternoon.
Western Michigan advanced to defeat St. Josephs 42-19 on Sunday and will now face Iowa Central Community College in the D1AA Championship game in 2 weeks.
On Sunday, the Vols faced North Carolina State University in a consolation match. UT ran across 8 tries to take the 48-24 victory that provided some much deserved quality playing time for very didicated teammates.
That concludes the fall season for the Vols with a 8-2 record and the 2019 Southeastern Collegiate Rugby Conference Championship. The reserves finished the fall with a perfect 6-0 record.
1. Creighton Couch; Braxton Heard @ 58'
2. Greg Giangiulio; Couch @ 58'; Chase Porter @ 72'
3. Kevin Thomas; Dawson Moseley @ 68'
4. Greg Janowick
5. Will Ring
6. Andy Lloyd; Christian Moolman @ 72'
7. Tory Griffin; Grayson Wallace @ 70'
8. Patrick Beacom; Jacob Eicher @ 59'
9. Luke Davies: Dorflinger-Slee @ 60'
10. Conrad Dorflinger-Slee; Dukes @ 60'
11. Andy Dukes; Austin White @ 60'
12. Tom Pelini; Beacom @ 59'
13. Josh Shetler
14. Marcus McClain; Tyler Ensign @ 68'
15. Ben Schwartz
05' - WMU TRY / CK; Score: 0 - 7
16' - WMU TRY / CK; Score: 0 - 14
19' - UT TRY (Giangiulio); Score: 5 - 14
23' - WMU TRY / CK; Score: 5 - 21
30' - WMU TRY; Score: 5 - 26
32' - WMU Yellow Card; Score: 5 - 26
36' - UT TRY (Beacom); Score: 10 - 26 @ HALFTIME
42' - WMU TRY; Score: 10 - 31
44' - UT TRY (Dorflinger-Slee); Score: 15 - 31
53' - UT YELLOW CARD
60' - WM TRY / CK; Score: 15 - 38
77' - UT TRY (White) / CK (Schwartz); FINAL SCORE: 22 - 38
Halftime: Tennessee 10, Western Michigan 26
Full Time: Tennessee 22, Western Michigan 38
Referee: Mike Groenewald
Penalty Count (1st/2nd/Tot)
Tennessee: 0/3/3
Western Michigan: 8/3/11
Scrums
Tennessee: 4 of 8
Western Michigan: 5 of 6
Line Out
Tennessee: 9 of 12
Western Michigan: 8 of 8
Possession
Tennessee: 113 Phases (40% positive)
Western Michigan: 36 Phases (58% positive)
1. Dawson Moseley
2. Creighton Couch / Chase Porter
3. Kevin Thomas / Braxton Heard
4. Greg Janowick / Bryce Jackson
5. Will Ring / Tyler Hesketh
6. Andy Lloyd / Jacob Eicher / Grayson Wallace
7. Tory Griffin / Christian Moolman
8. Patrick Beacom / Jackson Powers
9. Conrad Dorflinger-Slee
10. Andy Dukes / Jack Ambrose
11. Tyler Ensign / Xavier Stahlman
12. Tom Pelini / Josh Oakes
13. Austin White
14. Marcus McClain / Dane Peterson
15. Josh Shelter
01' - UT TRY (White); Score: 5 - 0
09' - UT TRY (Janowick) / CK (Shetler); Score: 12 - 0
12' - NCSU TRY / CK; Score: 12 - 7
23' - UT TRY (Shetler) / CK (Shetler); Score: 19 - 7
27' - UT TRY (Hesketh); Score: 24 - 7
35' - UT TRY (Thomas) / CK (Shetler); Score: 31 - 7
37' - UT TRY (Dorflinger-Slee); Score: 36 - 7 @ HALFTIME
48' - UT TRY (Couch) / CK (Shetler); Score: 43 - 7
55' - NCSU TRY / CK; Score: 43 - 14
61' - NCSU TRY: Score: 43- 19
65' - UT TRY (Lloyd); Score: 48 - 19
78' - NCSU TRY; FINAL SCORE: 48 - 24
Halftime: Tennessee 36, North Carolina State 7
Full Time: Tennessee 48, North Carolina State 24
Referee: Evan Kelly
Penalties (1st/2nd/Tot)
Tennessee: 6/5/11
NC State: 1/0/1
Scrums
Tennessee: 8 of 8
NC State: 10 of 12
Line Outs
Tennessee: 5 of 7
NC State: 5 of 11
Possession
Tennessee: 75 Phases (71% positive)
NC State: 57 Phases (47% positive)