A mighty effort from Griffith University's 2021 rugby sevens team secured second place in this year's 2021 Aon University Sevens series.
Gritty performances from the 2018 premiers ensured they made the Gold Medal Final on day two of the final round of the Uni Sevens competition for 2021 but Bond University took home the match and this year's title.
Co-captain Kiri Lingman, injured in the Gold Medal Final, said she was extremely proud of the team's efforts.
"This year we had the youngest squad ever and it has been incredible to watch them grow and really step up," the Bachelor of Public Relations and Communications student said.
"We had a hard day on Saturday with two really close games so it was a huge effort to make it to the cup final for the last tournament.
"We've always had a really great culture with Griffith and this pulled us through for the last tournament.
"We're also very lucky to have had amazing support staff and coaching this year, co-ordinated by Griffith Sport College, who have always championed our efforts."
Griffith Sports College Manager Naomi McCarthy OAM said the University sevens competition was an important pathway for women in sport.
"As an inaugural member of this national University competition, Griffith is committed to continuing to provide this opportunity for our female student athletes"
"It gives our athletes, coaches like Moana Virtue and officials top level, elite competition and experience while also allowing our student interns practical experience working in sport.
"We have been very happy with the development of the young team this year, supported by some of our older and more experienced veterans.
"This year we also benefitted from the return of our Griffith athletes playing at a national level, including Demi Hayes and Lily Dick, who are both members of the Tokyo Games squad."
Kiri said the commitment from all team members was commendable.
"They really put in every week with training and tournaments," she said.
"It would have been great to finish with gold but full credit to Bond – they had a great series and were well deserving."
Queensland has now won all national titles, with Griffith winning in 2018 and UQ in 2017 and 2019. The competition was cancelled in 2020 due to the pandemic.
