X-Women hockey holds on to No. 4 national ranking

The latest CIS top ten rankings were released today and the X-Women hockey team holds onto their No. 4 ranking.

November 19, 2013

CIS TOP TEN TUESDAY (#12)
Game of musical chair continues in men's volleyball

OTTAWA (CIS) – The McMaster Marauders are the third team in as many weeks to top the CIS men's volleyball rankings as they take over from the Trinity Western Spartans, whose reign as No. 1 lasted only seven days.

The Marauders (6-0), national finalists last season, received 18 first-place votes and 270 points in the sixth coaches' poll of the season, compared to 11 number-one nods and 263 points for the Spartans (7-1). The Alberta Golden Bears (5-3), who had led the first four polls of the campaign before dropping to No. 3 a week ago, remain in third position in the new Top 10.

McMaster posted a pair of straight-set wins over Queen's and RMC this past weekend to remain undefeated in OUA league play, while Trinity Western split a two-game series against Calgary, winning 3-0 on Friday before dropping Saturday's rematch in five sets.

The Marauders top the CIS men's volleyball rankings for only the third time in program history. They held the pole position for two weeks in 2009-10 (Nov. 10 & Nov. 17 polls).

In other CIS sports, Saint Mary's (women's basketball), Carleton (men's basketball), McGill (women's hockey), Alberta (men's hockey), UBC (women's swimming & women's volleyball) and Toronto (men's swimming) all maintain their No. 1 status.

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

1. Saint Mary's (4-0) / 522 points (38) / (1)
2. Windsor (5-1) / 489 (6) / (2)
3. Fraser Valley (6-0) / 441 / (3)
4. Alberta (4-2) / 370 / (5)
5. Saskatchewan (5-1) / 357 / (4)
6. Regina (4-2) / 317 / (6)
7. Ottawa (5-1) / 249 / (9)
8. McGill (2-0) / 240 / (8)
9. Concordia (1-1) / 145 / (10)
10. Brock (4-2) / 121 / (7)

Other teams receiving votes: McMaster (99), Carleton (62).

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

1. Carleton (6-0) / 527 points (43) / (1)
2. Ottawa (6-0) / 483 (1) / (3)
3. Victoria (6-0) / 428 / (4)
4. Alberta (5-1) / 399 / (2)
5. Saskatchewan (6-0) / 363 / (5)
6. Ryerson (5-1) / 308 / (6)
7. McGill (2-0) / 221 / (9)
8. Windsor (3-3) / 216 / (7)
9. Laurentian (6-0) / 198 / (10)
10. Saint Mary's (3-1) / 116 / (8)

Other teams receiving votes: Winnipeg (85), UNB (26).

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

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

Other teams receiving votes: Western.

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

1. Alberta (12-0-0) / 170 points (17) / (1)
2. Calgary (12-0-0) / 146 / (3)
3. UNB (8-0-1) / 139 / (2)
4. Acadia (8-1-0) / 119 / (5)
5. McGill (8-2-1) / 94 / (4)
6. Lakehead (9-1-0) / 82 / (8)
7. Windsor (9-2-0) / 64 / (7)
8. Western (7-3-0) / 37 / (10)
9. UPEI (4-3-1) / 26 / (6)
10. UQTR (7-4-0) / 14 / (NR)

Other teams receiving votes: Toronto (11), Queen's (10), StFX (9), Saskatchewan (8), Ottawa (3), Saint Mary's (2), Carleton (1).

WOMEN'S SWIMMING
(points) / (previous rankings)

1. UBC 520 points / (1)
2. Toronto 361 / (6)
3. Montreal 357 / (2)
4. Dalhousie 279 / (NR)
5. Calgary 275 / (3)
6. Laval 197 / (5)
7. Guelph 159 / (NR)
8. McGill 138 / (4)
9. Ottawa 129 / (8)
10. Western 121 / (NR)

MEN'S SWIMMING
(points) / (previous rankings)

1. Toronto 485 points / (1)
2. UBC 336 / (2)
3. Calgary 300 / (3)
4. Dalhousie 272 / (NR)
5. Montreal 242 / (4)
6. Laval 177 / (7)
7. Alberta 175 / (5)
8. McMaster 158 / (NR)
9. McGill 132 / (8)
10. Lethbridge 111 / (6)

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

1. UBC (8-0) / 60 points / (1)
2. Trinity Western (5-3) / 55.5 / (3)
3. Brandon (6-2) / 48.5 / (4)
T4. Montreal (7-2) / 45 / (2)
T4. York (8-0) / 45 / (5)
T4. Manitoba (5-3) / 45 / (6)
7. UBC Okanagan (6-2) / 31.5 / (7)
8. Laval (7-2) / 26.5 / (9)
9. Ottawa (7-1) / 26 / (8)
10. Saint Mary's (4-1) / 23.5 / (10)

Next highest votes: Alberta (18), Dalhousie (17.5), Winnipeg (13), McGill (8), Mount Royal (5), Sherbrooke (5).

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

1. McMaster (6-0) / 270 points (18) / (2)
2. Trinity Western (7-1) / 263 (11) / (1)
3. Alberta (5-3) / 221 / (3)
4. UBC (5-3) / 166 / (5)
5. Brandon (4-4) / 133 / (4)
6. UNB (5-2) / 125 / (6)
7. Saskatchewan (3-5) / 104 / (7)
8. Dalhousie (6-1) / 65 / (8)
9. Manitoba (4-4) / 54 / (NR)
10. Thompson Rivers (4-4) / 37 / (NR)

CIS Men's Hockey Top 10 (#7)
Bears, Dinos ranked 1-2 going into Battle of Alberta

OTTAWA (CIS) – The University of Alberta Golden Bears top the CIS men's hockey national rankings for the seventh time in as many polls this season after receiving all 17 first-place votes from the media panel for the first time this fall.

The most significant change in the new Top 10 sees the Calgary Dinos move past the reigning University Cup champion UNB Varsity Reds in second place.

The last time the Dinos hit No. 2 in the national charts was back in 2002-03, when they occupied that spot in the first three polls of the campaign (Oct. 22, Oct. 29, Nov. 5). Those early-season rankings 11 years ago were also the last time provincial rivals Alberta and Calgary were 1-2 in the country.

Rounding out this week's poll behing Alberta (12-0), Calgary (12-0) and UNB (8-0-1) are the No. 4 Acadia Axemen (8-1 / up one position), No. 5 McGill Redmen (8-2-1 / down one), No. 6 Lakehead Thunderwolves (9-1 / up two), No. 7 Windsor Lancers (9-2 / no change), No. 8 Western Mustangs (7-3 / up two), No. 9 UPEI Panthers (4-3-1 / down three), as well as the previously unranked UQTR Patriotes (7-4) at No. 10.

Alberta and Calgary both remained perfect in league play over the past weekend thanks to two-game sweeps over Regina (3-2 and 5-1) and Mount Royal (3-0 and 8-1), respectively.

Something's got to give this weekend when the Bears and Dinos meet for their much-anticipated first showdown of the regular schedule, Friday in Calgary and Saturday in Edmonton. Fittingly, the co-Canada West leaders went 2-2 head-to-head in pre-season action back in September, with the Bears winning the first two confrontations in Banff, 4-2 (Sept. 6) and 3-0 (Sept. 7), and the Dinos responding a few weeks later with a pair of one-goal victories, 3-2 in Calgary (Sept. 27) and a 5-4 in St. Albert (Sept. 28).

The two teams have played only four times in the past while ranked 1-2 in the nation, all in the winter of 1990. With Alberta holding the No. 1 spot for a regular season series on Feb. 2-3 and Calgary sitting atop the rankings going into the best-of-three Canada West final on March 2-3, the Dinos took three out of four matchups en route to the conference title.

Meanwhile in Eastern Canada, Acadia handed UNB its first loss of the campaign last Friday night in Fredericton, edging the national champs 4-3 in a shootout. The result left the V-Reds with a slim one-point lead over the Axemen in the AUS standings and only one spot ahead of their conference rivals in the Top 10.

CIS MEN'S HOCKEY TOP 10 (#7)

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)

Other teams receiving votes: Toronto (11), Queen's (10), StFX (9), Saskatchewan (8), Ottawa (3), Saint Mary's (2), Carleton (1).