Alena Olsen and Kayla Canett will again co-captain the USA Women’s Sevens next weekend in western Australia for Perth SVNS as Olympian Kristi Kirshe rejoins the sqaud.
Sorted into Pool B with Fiji, Great Britain and Canada, the USA will look to build on their foundation with a young squad following a standout performance in Cape Town where the team finished second after reaching the Cup final. Veteran Kristi Kirshe rejoins the traveling group, following an extended off season at the end of 2024. The USA Women’s Sevens Perth campaign kicks off Friday, Jan 23 at 11:06pm ET with all matches LIVE on RugbyPass TV.
Comments from Head Coach Emilie Bydwell, “We were thrilled with our Cape Town performance, capping off an incredible 2024 for the program with a silver medal. The players showed remarkable commitment in the short turnaround between Dubai and Cape Town, zeroing in on the areas where we could be 5% better. Coming out of Cape Town, we refocused on our overarching goals for the season: building a solid foundation of physical capacity and technical skills that we can continue to build on throughout the rest of the quad.
As we head into Perth, we remain relentlessly focused on refining our technical execution while also deepening our understanding of how to maximize our attack as a cohesive unit, leveraging the unique strengths across the field. Perth presents an exciting challenge, particularly in terms of psychological flexibility and managing the expectations that come after our Cape Town performance. We’ll use this as an opportunity to further develop our process, honing our ability to control our attention and take effective action under pressure. We’re excited for the challenges pool play will bring, and we’ll approach each one as an opportunity to optimize our potential.”
Making her anticipated debut, Autumn Czaplicki is named to the Perth roster with an opportunity to pair her five fifteens caps with a sevens national team appearance. Czaplicki has progressed over the last few years as a regular in USA Sevens Residency, now ready to make a mark on the World Rugby Sevens stage in Australia.
Coming off a positive performance in Cape Town, the USA Women currently rank 4th on the HSBC SVNS standings, with a podium finish already checked off for the 2025 season. Sitting only 8 points behind series leading New Zealand, a repeat performance from the USA could make some waves in the leaderboard. Fiji are up first on Friday night, an opponent currently finding their footing but always an action packed try affair against the Eagles. Great Britain sees the USA in match two, a repeat along with Fiji from the Cape Town pool, where four different try-scorers lifted the Eagles to 31pts in a win. The Pool B finale will excitingly be against Canada, the first match up our northern rivals this year.
| Name | SVNS Tournaments |
|---|---|
| 1. Ariana Ramsey | 9 |
| 3. Kayla Canett (C) | 31 |
| 6. Alena Olsen (C) | 26 |
| 12. Kristi Kirshe | 25 |
| 15. Rachel Strasdas | 3 |
| 16. Jessica Lu | 2 |
| 20. Autumn LoCicero | 2 |
| 24. Su Adegoke | 2 |
| 28. Sariah Ibarra | 2 |
| 29. Hann Humphreys | 2 |
| 32. Alyssa Porter | 2 |
| 33. Nia Toliver | 2 |
| 99. Autumn Czaplicki | Debut |
Emilie Bydwell | Head Coach
Zack Test | Assistant Coach
Trey Ford | Head of Athletic Performance
Nicole Titmas | Manager of Medical Services; Head Athletic Trainer
Liz Strohecker | Head of Operations - Sevens
USA vs Fiji | 11:06pm ET
USA vs Great Britain | 3:43am ET
USA vs Canada | 1:41am ET
Quarterfinals begin Sat, Jan 25 at 7:02am ET
