Top 10 Tuesday (#9); McGill ranked in volleyball and hockey
MONTREAL -- The two-time defending national champion hockey Martlets are one of three McGill squads in the national Top 10 poll, released Tuesday. The Martlets, who have won 56 consecutive games, are the top-ranked team in the CIS for the 33rd consecutive poll. The hockey Redmen have moved up one notch to No.7 after a 3-3 tie at Harvard and a 7-4 win at Dartmouth last week. The volleyball Martlets are ranked ninth for the second straight week.
In football, the reigning Vanier Cup champion Laval Rouge et Or top the UFRC - CIS football rankings for the second straight week, for the eighth time in 10 polls this season, and for the 46th time in 49 polls dating back to the start of the 2005 campaign.
Lethbridge Pronghorns lead the CIS women's rugby coaches poll for the eighth time in eight weeks after they captured their fourth consecutive Canada West title and booked a ticket for next week's CIS championship in Vancouver.
Other teams topping national rankings this week include Trinity Western in women's soccer, York in men's soccer, Guelph in women's cross country, Windsor in men's cross country, UNB in men's hockey, UBC in women's volleyball, and Alberta in men's volleyball. With the exception of Windsor, all are reigning CIS champions.
In women's rugby, the Pronghorns (4-0 regular season / 2-0 playoffs) cruised through the Canada West Final Four this past weekend crushing Victoria 86-0 in the semi-final round and blanking No. 6-Alberta 30-0 in the gold-medal match.
Lethbridge, which outscored its Canada West opponents 333-7 in six duels this fall, is one of four teams qualified for the Nationals that will be held November 6-8.
The UBC Thunderbirds (2-2 season / 1-1 playoffs), who claimed Canada West bronze, will host the CIS tournament, while the No. 2-Guelph Gryphons (5-0 / 2-0) and No. 5-Western Ontario Mustangs (3-2 / 2-0), who will face off in the OUA final on Saturday, will represent Ontario.
The final two berths for the six-team CIS tourney will go to the Quebec and Atlantic champions. The No. 4-Laval Rouge et Or (6-0 / 1-0) host the No. 7-Concordia Stingers (5-1 / 1-0) in the QSSF final Saturday, while the No. 3-StFX X-Women (6-0) host the Saint Mary's Huskies (4-2) in the AUS title game, also on Saturday.
In women's soccer, the defending national champion Spartans (11-1-0) are back at No. 1 after falling to second place behind the Montreal Carabins (10-1-1) last week.
Trinity Western scored a pair of 3-0 wins over Alberta and Saskatchewan over the weekend, while Montreal suffered its first loss of the regular season, a 3-2 setback against No. 8-Sherbrooke, before settling for a scoreless draw against No.9-Laval. The Carabins drop two spots to No. 3 following their one-point weekend, while the Queen's Gaels (13-1-2) move up one position to No. 2.
The playoffs get under way in OUA this week with four first-round match-up on Wednesday and four quarterfinals on Saturday.
In men's soccer, the defending CIS champion Lions (9-2-3) are back at the top for the first time since the second coaches poll of the campaign.
York battled Windsor to a 0-0 draw and defeated Western 3-0 this past week, while Montreal (8-2-1), which had climbed up to No. 1 a week ago, was upset by Laval on Sunday, 2-0, and falls to No. 3 in the new poll. Trinity Western (8-1-3) moves up one position to No. 2.
OUA playoff match-ups are also scheduled on Wednesday and Saturday in men's soccer.
In women's hockey, the two-time defending national champion Martlets (2-0), who lead the CIS poll for the fourth time in as many weeks this fall and for the 33rd straight time dating back to November of 2007, enjoyed a break in the QSSF schedule last week. McGill puts its 56-game overall winning streak against CIS opponents on the line Friday night when they host No. 10-Montreal.
In men's hockey, the University Cup champion Varsity Reds improved to 4-0 in conference play with a hard-fought 3-2 victory over Acadia and a 7-4 win over No. 5-Saint Mary's (3-1). UNB faces cross-town rival St. Thomas Wednesday before taking on Acadia and Saint Mary's again this weekend.
In women's volleyball, the reigning CIS gold-medallist Thunderbirds are off to a 2-0 start in Canada West play thanks to a pair of straight-set wins over Winnipeg.
The story of the week in women's volleyball was a two-game Alberta sweep over Calgary, 3-1 and 3-2. The Pandas (2-0) move up two spots to No. 3 in the CIS rankings while the Dinos (0-2) drop two positions to No. 6.
In men's volleyball, the two-time defending champion Golden Bears (1-1) top the national coaches poll for the 35th straight time dating back to November of 2006 despite opening Canada West play with a weekend split against Calgary. The Dinos (1-1) move up one position to No. 3 in the new poll.
Alberta prevailed 3-1 last Friday before being swept in straight sets on Saturday. The loss put an end to a number of Golden Bear streaks. The Bears had won 24 straight games in conference play since a 3-1 loss to UBC on January 25, 2008, had not been swept 3-0 since November 9, 2007, against Winnipeg, and had not been blanked at home since February 9, 2007, against Trinity Western.
In cross country, the three-time CIS champion Gryphon women are No. 1 for the fourth time in four rankings this fall, while the Lancer men leapfrog past the Gryphons, who have also claimed the last three CIS banners.
The 2009 CIS championships are only 11 days away. Queen's hosts the national meet in Kingston on Saturday, Nov. 14.
UFRC - CIS FOOTBALL TOP 10 (#10)
Pts (1st place) Last week
1. Laval (6-1) 1736 (52) 1
2. Calgary (6-1) 1534 (3) 3
3. Saskatchewan (6-1) 1290 5
4. Queen's (7-1) 1242 2
5. Western Ontario (6-2) 949 6
6. Saint Mary's (6-1) 923 7
7. Ottawa (6-2) 598 8
8. Wilfrid Laurier (6-2) 502 NR
9. Montreal (4-3) 421 4
10. McMaster (6-2) 249 10
Other teams receiving votes: StFX (54), Manitoba (15), Concordia (6), Sherbrooke (2), Bishop's (1).
WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
(votes) / (previous rankings)
1. Guelph (100 points) / (1)
2. McMaster (85) / (2)
3. Toronto (78.8) / (4)
4. Calgary (65) / (3)
5. StFX (58.8) / (5)
6. Victoria (46.3) / (6)
7. Western Ontario (38.8) / (7)
T8. Queen's (26.3) / (8)
T8. Laval (26.3) / (9)
10. Manitoba (17.5) / (10)
MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
(votes) / (previous rankings)
1. Windsor (90 points) / (2)
2. Guelph (87.5) / (1)
3. StFX (78.8) / (3)
4. Calgary (55) / (4)
5. Victoria (52.5) / (5)
6. Regina (50) / (6)
7. Queen's (35) / (7)
8. Toronto (33.8) / (8)
9. Western Ontario (22.5) / (9)
10. Dalhousie (18.8) / (NR)
WOMEN'S HOCKEY
(regular season record) / (previous rankings)
1. McGill (2-0) / (1)
2. Wilfrid Laurier (4-0) / (2)
3. Alberta (6-0) / (3)
4. Manitoba (2-2) / (5)
5. StFX (3-1) / (4)
6. Moncton (2-1) / (6)
7. Queen's (4-0) / (8)
8. Guelph (4-2) / (7)
9. Saskatchewan (4-2) / (9)
10. Montreal (4-0) / (T10)
Other teams receiving votes: York.
MEN'S HOCKEY
(regular season record) / (votes - first place votes) / (previous rankings)
1. UNB (4-0) / 180 points (18) / (1)
2. Alberta (5-0-1) / 155 / (2)
3. UQTR (5-0) / 125 / (4)
4. Lakehead (5-0-1) / 120 / (7)
5. Saint Mary's (3-1) / 105 / (5)
6. Manitoba (5-2-1) / 92 / (3)
7. McGill (2-0) / 78 / (8)
8. Wilfrid Laurier (5-0-1) / 61 / (NR)
9. Nipissing (5-1-1) / 18 / (NR)
10. Waterloo (4-1-1) / 15 / (10)
Other teams receiving votes: Brock (13), Acadia (10), Calgary (10), Lethbridge (6), UBC (2).
WOMEN'S RUGBY
(regular season record) / (votes) / (previous rankings)
1. Lethbridge (4-0 / 2-0 playoffs) / 148 points / (1)
2. Guelph (5-0 / 2-0 playoffs) / 123 / (3)
3. StFX (6-0) / 117 / (2)
4. Laval (6-0 / 1-0 playoffs) / 97 / (4)
5. Western Ontario (3-2 / 2-0 playoffs) / 78 / (7)
6. Alberta (3-1 / 1-1 playoffs) / 75 / (5)
7. Concordia (5-1 / 1-0 playoffs) / 53 / (8)
8. McMaster (4-1 / 1-1 playoffs) / 41 / (6)
9. Queen's (4-1 / 1-1 playoffs) / 22 / (9)
10. UBC (2-2 / 1-1 playoffs) / 16 / (10)
Other teams receiving votes: Saint Mary's (5), Ottawa (4), Brock (2), Waterloo (2), Trent (1).
WOMEN'S SOCCER
(regular season record) / (votes) / (previous rankings)
1. Trinity Western (11-1-0) / 40 points / (2)
2. Queen's (13-1-2) / 35 / (3)
3. Montreal (10-1-1) / 31 / (1)
4. Victoria (8-1-3) / 27 / (4)
5. Dalhousie (8-0-3) / 25 / (6)
6. Ottawa (11-2-3) / 23 / (5)
7. York (11-2-1) / 13 / (9)
8. Sherbrooke (8-2-2) / 9 / (NR)
9. Laval (8-3-1) / 6 / (7)
10. UPEI (8-2-1) / 5 / (8)
Other teams receiving votes: McGill, UBC.
MEN'S SOCCER
(regular season record) / points / (previous rankings)
1. York (9-2-3) / 38 points / (2)
2. Trinity Western (8-1-3) / 36 / (3)
3. Montreal (8-2-1) / 34 / (1)
4. Toronto (11-1-2) / 27 / (5)
5. UBC (9-3-0) / 24 / (7)
6. Cape Breton (8-1-3) / 20 / (NR)
7. Windsor (8-1-5) / 18 / (9)
8. UPEI (8-3-0) / 12 / (6)
9. Dalhousie (6-2-3) / 8 / (4)
10. Victoria (7-5-1) / 4 / (NR)
Other teams receiving votes: Queen's.
WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
(regular season record) / (votes) / (previous rankings)
1. UBC (2-0) / 60 points / (1)
2. Montreal (0-0) / 56 / (2)
3. Alberta (2-0) / 52 / (5)
4. Manitoba (1-1) / 46 / (3)
5. Laval (0-0) / 43 / (6)
6. Calgary (0-2) / 40 / (4)
7. Regina (1-1) / 39 / (7)
8. Trinity Western (2-0) / 32 / (8)
9. McGill (0-0) / 26 / (9)
10. UNB (0-0) / 24 / (10)
Next highest vote getters (11 to 15): Brandon (22), Waterloo (15), Toronto (12), Western Ontario (5), Sherbrooke (5).
MEN'S VOLLEYBALL
(regular season record) / points / (previous rankings)
1. Alberta (1-1) / 222.5 points / (1)
2. McMaster (2-0) / 215 / (2)
3. Calgary (1-1) / 200.5 / (4)
4. Laval (0-0) / 187.5 / (3)
5. Manitoba (2-0) / 140 / (5)
6. Dalhousie (0-0) / 103 / (7)
7. UBC (1-1) / 99 / (6)
8. Winnipeg (1-1) / 90.5 / (9)
9. Brandon (0-0) / 59 / (8)
10. Trinity Western (0-0) / 25.5 / (10)
-CIS-
For more information contact:
Michel Bélanger
Manager, Communications & Media Relations
Canadian Interuniversity Sport
Ph: (613) 562-5670 ext. 25
Cell: (613) 447-6334
Fax: (613) 562-5669
belanger [at] universitysport.ca