X-Women hockey retain No. 4 national ranking while X-Men cross country crack list at No. 10

CIS TOP TEN TUESDAY (#10)
Saint Mary’s tops women’s basketball rankings for first time in history

OTTAWA (CIS) – For the first time in program history, the Saint Mary’s Huskies are the top-ranked team in CIS women’s basketball.

In other sports, Guelph (women’s & men’s cross country), Alberta (men’s hockey & men’s volleyball), Carleton (men’s basketball), McGill (women’s hockey) and UBC (women’s volleyball) all maintain their No. 1 status.

Guelph heads into Saturday’s CIS cross country championships in London, Ont., as a heavy favourite in both the women’s and men’s events. The Gryphons once again swept the OUA team banners this season and will be looking to add to their remarkable record streaks of eighth straight national women’s titles and seven consecutive men’s crowns.

In women’s basketball, the Huskies, who were ranked behind Windsor and Alberta in the inaugural Top 10 of the campaign last Tuesday, move up to No. 1 after the Lancers (1-1) and Pandas (1-1) both dropped a game in their first weekend of conference play.

Saint Mary’s edged Windsor by only one point in the second coaches’ poll (491 to 490) after receiving 22 first-place votes compared to 12 for the three-time defending Bronze Baby Trophy champions.

Windsor and Alberta drop to second and fourth, respectively, in the new Top 10, with No. 3 Fraser Valley and No. 5 Saskatchewan rounding out the leading quintet. Fraser Valley (10) and Alberta (1) also merited first-place nods.

Saint Mary’s (0-0), which claimed its first-ever CIS medal (bronze) last March, opens its AUS schedule this weekend with a Saturday-Sunday doubleheader at Memorial. Led by Canadian senior national team member Justine Colley, the reigning CIS player of the year and three-time scoring champion, the Huskies kept a perfect 6-0 mark in pre-season action, including four wins over CIS opponents.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
(regular season record) / votes (first-place votes) / (previous rankings)

1. Saint Mary’s (0-0) / 491 points (22) / (3)
2. Windsor (1-1) / 490 (12) / (1)
3. Fraser Valley (2-0) / 474 (10) / (4)
4. Alberta (1-1) / 406 (1) / (2)
5. Saskatchewan (2-0) / 370 / (5)
6. Regina (2-0) / 328 / (6)
7. Brock (2-0) / 276 / (7)
8. Concordia (0-0) / 218 / (8)
9. McGill (0-0) / 173 / (9)
10. Ottawa (1-1) / 106 / (10)

Other teams receiving votes: McMaster (53), Carleton (49).

MEN’S BASKETBALL
(regular season record) / votes (first-place votes) / (previous rankings)

1. Carleton (2-0) / 418 points (34) / (1)
2. Alberta (2-0) / 384 (1) / (2)
3. Ottawa (2-0) / 353 / (3)
4. Victoria (2-0) / 313 / (5)
5. Saskatchewan (2-0) / 264 / (7)
6. Ryerson (1-1) / 246 / (4)
7. Windsor (0-2) / 175 / (6)
8. Saint Mary’s (0-0) / 152 / (9)
9. McGill (0-0) / 108 / (10)
10. UBC (1-1) / 93 / (8)

Other teams receiving votes: Laurentian (88), McMaster (79).

WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY
(points) / (previous rankings)

1. Guelph 100 points / (1)
T2. Western 83 / (2)
T2. Queen’s 83 / (4)
4. Toronto 73 / (3)
5. Victoria 58 / (5)
6. Trinity Western 43 / (6)
7. Dalhousie 38 / (7)
8. McMaster 23 / (T8)
9. McGill 20 / (T8)
T10. Windsor 13 / (10)
T10. Alberta 13 / (NR)

MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY
(points) / (previous rankings)

1. Guelph 100 points / (1)
2. Laval 90 / (2)
3. Windsor 78 / (4)
4. McMaster 68 / (3)
5. Victoria 60 / (5)
6. Queen’s 48 / (6)
T7. Alberta 30 / (7)
T7. Toronto 30 / (8)
9. Calgary 18 / (NR)
10. StFX 13 / (NR)

WOMEN’S HOCKEY
(regular season record) / (previous rankings)

1. McGill (4-0-0) / (1)
2. Montreal (2-1-0) / (2)
3. Queen’s (6-0-3) / (3)
4. StFX (5-0-0) / (4)
5. Wilfrid Laurier (6-2-0) / (5) 
6. UBC (7-2-1) / (8)
7. Guelph (7-2-0) / (9)
8. Saskatchewan (7-2-1) / (10)
9. Western (6-3-0) / (6)
10. Regina (7-3-0) / (7)

MEN’S HOCKEY
(regular season record) / votes (first-place votes) / (previous rankings)

1. Alberta (8-0-0) / 169 points (16) / (1)
2. UNB (6-0-0) / 154 (1) / (2)
3. Calgary (8-0-0) / 135 / (3)
4. UPEI (4-1-0) / 101 / (4)
5. McGill (5-1-1) / 85 / (6)
6. Acadia (5-1-0) / 79 / (8)
7. Western (5-1-0) / 64 / (7)
8. Carleton (5-2-0) / 53 / (5)
9. Windsor (6-1-0) / 48 / (NR)
10. Saskatchewan (4-4-0) / 16 / (NR) *
* Saskatchewan is ranked higher than Lakehead based on number of higher-placed votes.

Other teams receiving votes: Lakehead (16), Waterloo (4), York (4), StFX (3), Moncton (1), Queen’s (1), Ryerson (1), UQTR (1).

WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL
(regular season record) / (votes) / (previous rankings)

1. UBC (4-0) / 60 points / (1)
2. Trinity Western (2-2) / 54 / (2)
3. Montreal (5-0) / 53 / (3)
4. York (5-0) / 46 / (T4)
5. UBC Okanagan (4-0) / 45 / (T4)
6. Brandon (3-1) / 39 / (T6)
7. Manitoba (2-2) / 37 / (T6)
8. Ottawa (3-1) / 28 / (8)
9. Dalhousie (1-0) / 25 / (9)
10. McGill (5-0) / 17 / (NR)

Next highest votes: Laval (15), Calgary (14), Ryerson (10), Mount Royal (8), Saskatchewan (8), Winnipeg (8).

MEN’S VOLLEYBALL
(regular season record) / votes (first-place votes) / (previous rankings)

1. Alberta (4-0) / 259 points (25) / (1)
2. McMaster (3-0) / 232 (1) / (2)
3. Trinity Western (4-0) / 214 (1) / (3)
4. Brandon (2-2) / 179 / (4)
5. UBC (2-2) / 146 / (5)
6. Saskatchewan (0-4) / 105 / (6)
7. UNB (2-1) / 86 / (7)
8. Dalhousie (5-0) / 79 / (8)
9. Western (3-1) / 59 / (10)
10. Laval (2-2) / 38 / (9)

CIS Men’s Hockey Top 10 (#5)
National leaders keep rolling

OTTAWA (CIS) – The University of Alberta Golden Bears top the CIS men’s hockey national rankings for the fifth time in as many polls this season following an impressive non-conference weekend in Thunder Bay.

For the fifth consecutive week, Alberta and reigning University Cup champion UNB were the only teams to receive first-place consideration from the media panel, with 16 number one nods going to the Bears (169 total points) and the remaining one to the Varsity Reds (154 points). 

Alberta (8-0), UNB (6-0) and the Calgary Dinos (8-0), ranked third for the third week in a row, are the three remaining undefeated squads in the country heading into the second weekend of November.

Rounding out the new Top 10 are the No. 4 UPEI Panthers (4-1 / no change), No. 5 McGill Redmen (5-1-1 / up one position), No. 6 Acadia Axemen (5-1 / up three), No. 7 Western Mustangs (5-1 / no change), No. 8 Carleton Ravens (5-2 / down three), as well as the No. 9 Windsor Lancers (6-1) and No. 10 Saskatchewan Huskies (4-4), both unranked in the last poll.

The Bears took advantage of a break in their Canada West schedule this past weekend to travel to Thunder Bay for a two-game exhibition set against the Lakehead Thunderwolves (5-1) and returned to Edmonton with 7-5 and 7-2 victories. Alberta resumes league play with a Saturday-Friday doubleheader versus Lethbridge (1-7). 

UNB posted its fifth and six wins of the young AUS season, defeating crosstown rival St. Thomas 3-2 and Moncton 4-1. The University Cup champs face their neighbours from St. Thomas (2-4) again on Wednesday night.

Following a week off, Calgary hosts Top-10 rival Saskatchewan for a pair, Friday and Saturday.

In the only other Top-10 battle of the coming weekend, Western visits McGill on Saturday.

NOTE: The AUS schedule breaks this weekend for the selection of the Atlantic conference all-star team that will represent Canada at the upcoming Winter Universiade in Trentino, Italy (Dec. 10-21). A fundraising game featuring players hoping to crack the roster is set for Friday at 7 p.m. Atlantic Time at the Grant-Harvey Centre in Fredericton.

CIS MEN’S HOCKEY TOP 10 (#5)

Voting is based on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis, with a 1st place vote worth 10 points. The CIS Men’s Ice Hockey Top Ten Committee is made up of media members from across Canada.

(regular season record) / votes (first-place votes)
1. Alberta (8-0-0) / 169 points (16) / (1)
2. UNB (6-0-0) / 154 (1) / (2)
3. Calgary (8-0-0) / 135 / (3)
4. UPEI (4-1-0) / 101 / (4)
5. McGill (5-1-1) / 85 / (6)
6. Acadia (5-1-0) / 79 / (8)
7. Western (5-1-0) / 64 / (7)
8. Carleton (5-2-0) / 53 / (5)
9. Windsor (6-1-0) / 48 / (NR)
10. Saskatchewan (4-4-0) / 16 / (NR) *
* Saskatchewan is ranked higher than Lakehead based on number of higher-placed votes.

Other teams receiving votes: Lakehead (16), Waterloo (4), York (4), StFX (3), Moncton (1), Queen’s (1), Ryerson (1), UQTR (1).