BUTLER, PA -- The Alfred University men's rugby 7s team took part in its first automatic qualifier tournament of the season, with Head Coach Dale Russell and his men coming home in seventh.

"I thought this weekend was a hard fought tournament," Phillip Peterson III (Auburn, NY/Auburn) said. "Especially compared to us last year, I'm very proud of how far we have come as a team and grew a lot stronger."

AU finished second overall in the AQ standings after sweeping its first three matches of group play on Saturday finishing tied with Slippery Rock on 15 points. They defeated Grove City 29-12, Baldwin Wallace 29-5, and Christendom 26-24.

The Saxons were driven forward by six tries each from Peterson III and Ayomideji Israel-Akinbo (Makhanda, Eastern Cape, South Africa/St. Andrews College). Eddie Hart IV (Wilton, NY/Saratoga Springs) and Chevon Adriaans (Paramaribo, Suriname/SGS) each had two tries as well throughout the weekend.

Both Hart and Adriaans combined for six conversions to keep up the scoring, five for Adriaans and one for Hart. The final scorers for AU were Ky Simson (Brooklyn, NY/Erasmus Hall) and Joseph Bodley (Le Roy, NY/Caledonia-Mumford) with one try each.

Alfred's 24-0 loss in the quarterfinal to Taylor University set them up to finish as high as fifth in Sunday's action. While they started with a close loss to Cedarville, they wrapped up competition with a 10-7 victory over Curry College to end the tournament with a 4-2 record.

AU will get a week off to reset and prepare for an in-state qualifier at the Lake Effect Automatic Qualifier 7s Tournament in Niagara Falls on Sunday, March 29.