X-Women hockey ranked No. 8 in nation

CIS TOP TEN TUESDAY (#17)
Windsor returns to No. 1 in women's basketball

OTTAWA (CIS) – The three-time reigning national champion Windsor Lancers are back at the top of the CIS rankings in women's basketball.

It marks the only change at No. 1 in this week's Top 10 rankings. In other CIS sports, Carleton (men's basketball), McGill (women's hockey), Calgary (men's hockey), UBC (women's swimming & women's volleyball), Toronto (men's swimming), McMaster (men's volleyball), Brock (women's wrestling) and Alberta (men's wrestling) all hold on to the pole position.

The first indoor track and field rankings of the campaign were also released on Tuesday, with the Guelph women and Windsor men opening at No. 1.

In women's hoops, the Saint Mary's Huskies improved to 12-0 in conference play over the past weekend thanks to a pair of convincing wins over Cape Breton, 71-55 and 93-59, but it wasn't enough to keep them in the driver's seat as they drop to second place behind Windsor in the eighth coaches' poll of the season. The Lancers are 13-1 in league action following an 81-52 victory against Guelph and an 87-65 defeat of Brock last weekend.

Saint Mary's had topped the last six national polls since opening the campaign at No. 3 behind Windsor and Alberta, on Oct. 29.

In women's volleyball, the top two teams in the country squared off in Vancouver last Friday and Saturday and the much-anticipated two-game set did not disappoint as No. 2 Brandon (12-4) took the opener 3-1 and UBC (15-1) rebounded to take the rematch in straight sets. Friday's result snapped a 39-game winning streak for the six-time reigning CIS champ Thunderbirds, who hadn't lost since a 3-1 setback against Trinity Western on Oct. 27, 2012.

There is also a No. 1 vs. No. 2 match-up on the CIS schedule this week, this one in men's basketball.

Top-ranked Carleton (13-0) puts its unblemished record on the line against cross-town rival Ottawa (12-1) Tuesday night in the eighth annual MBNA Capital Hoops Classic, at Canadian Tire Centre. The defending CIS champion Ravens won the first head-to-head duel of the campaign 94-73 back on Nov. 29.

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

1. Windsor (13-1) / 511 points (27) / (2)
2. Saint Mary's (12-0) / 499 (17) / (1)
3. Alberta (12-2) / 433 / (3)
4. Regina (12-2) / 394 / (5)
5. Saskatchewan (12-2) / 349 / (4)
6. McGill (6-0) / 315 / (6)
7. Wilfrid Laurier (12-2) / 225 / (9)
8. Concordia (5-3) / 219 / (7)
9. Fraser Valley (10-4) / 169 / (10)
10. Ottawa (9-4) / 113 / (8)

Other teams receiving votes: Carleton (63), McMaster (47).

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

1. Carleton (13-0) / 492 points (41) / (1)
2. Ottawa (12-1) / 451 / (2)
3. Victoria (12-2) / 384 / (5)
4. Alberta (12-2) / 371 / (3)
5. Ryerson (11-3) / 323 / (4)
6. McMaster (11-3) / 311 / (6)
7. McGill (5-1) / 240 / (7)
8. Saskatchewan (11-3) / 209 / (8)
9. Windsor (9-5) / 162 / (10)
10. Acadia (8-3) / 97 / (9)

Other teams receiving votes: Laurentian (84), Lethbridge (34).

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

1. McGill (13-0-0) / (1)
2. Montreal (10-3-0) / (2)
3. Guelph (15-3-0) / (6)
4. Wilfrid Laurier (14-2-3) / (3) 
5. Queen's (13-2-3) / (4)
6. UBC (16-5-1) / (5)
7. Alberta (14-5-3) / (8)
8. StFX (13-3-1) / (7)
9. Saskatchewan (13-4-5) / (9)
10. Toronto (14-4-1) / (NR)

Other teams receiving votes: SaintMary's.

MEN'S HOCKEY

CIS Men's Hockey Top 10 (#12)
Calgary and Alberta keep rolling, defending champs score big Top-10 win

OTTAWA (CIS) – The University of Calgary Dinos lead the CIS men's hockey Top 10 for the fourth consecutive ranking period after sweeping all first-place votes from the national media panel for the first time this season.

The Dinos (19-0-1), the only team in the country without a regulation loss in conference play, tallied 160 points in the 12th weekly poll of the campaign to maintain a comfortable cushion over their Canada West archrivals, the Alberta Golden Bears (18-2), who received 144 points from the panel.

The only change in the new Top 10 sees reigning University Cup champion UNB (16-3-1) move past Acadia (15-2-3) in third place. The Varsity Reds and Axemen are tied atop the AUS standings with 33 points apiece with eight games left in the regular season.

Rounding out this week's national poll are the No. 5 McGill Redmen (16-5-1), No. 6 UQTR Patriotes (16-4), No. 7 Carleton Ravens (14-5-1), No. 8 Ryerson Rams (15-7), No. 9 Lakehead Thunderwolves (14-5-1) and No. 10 Queen's Gaels (13-3-5).

While Calgary swept its two-game set against Manitoba over the weekend, 5-4 and 4-3 on home ice, the Dinos were seconds away from suffering their first regulation defeat of the regular schedule in Saturday's rematch. The No. 1 team in the nation tied it at 3-3 with 79 second left in the third period before prevailing in double overtime.

Calgary, which hold a three-point lead over Alberta in the Canada West race with eight league contests remaining, visits UBC for a pair this week.

The Golden Bears also kept rolling last weekend, sweeping UBC 4-3 and 5-2 in Vancouver.

Meanwhile in the Maritimes, UNB beat Acadia 5-3 on Friday in a much-anticipated confrontation between the top two teams in the AUS. The V-Reds, who had lost twice to the Axemen earlier this season, added a 4-1 win over Dalhousie on Saturday, while Acadia lost for the second straight day, this time 6-5 in extra time to Moncton.

In the OUA conference, Ryerson and Lakehead split their two-game series in Thunder Bay, with the hometown Thunderwolves taking the opener 4-3 and the Rams responding with a 7-1 domination in the rematch.

The lone Top-10 matchup of the coming week in CIS men's hockey sees No. 10 Queen's visit No. 7 Carleton on Friday night.

CIS MEN'S HOCKEY TOP 10 (#12)

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) / (previous rankings)

1. Calgary (19-0-1) / 160 points (16) / (1)
2. Alberta (18-2-0) / 144 / (2)
3. UNB (16-3-1) / 124 / (4)
4. Acadia (15-2-3) / 107 / (3)
5. McGill (16-5-1) / 87 / (5)
6. UQTR (16-4-0) / 80 / (6)
7. Carleton (14-5-1) / 51 / (7)
8. Ryerson (15-7-0) / 48 / (8)
9. Lakehead (14-5-1) / 27 / (9)
10. Queen's (13-3-5) / 20 / (10)

Other teams receiving votes: Moncton (18), Saskatchewan (7), Western (4), UPEI (3).

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

1. UBC 625 points / (1)
2. Montreal 404 / (2)
3. Toronto 327 / (3)
4. Calgary 234 / (4)
5. Laval 210 / (6)
6. Western 199 / (5)
7. Dalhousie 145 / (7)
8. McGill 144 / (8)
9. Guelph 114 / (NR)
10. Ottawa 112 / (9)

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

1. Toronto 558 points / (1)
2. UBC 418 / (2)
3. Calgary 308 / (3)
4. Alberta 276 / (4)
5. Western 196 / (5)
6. McMaster 179 / (6)
7. Montreal 168 / (7)
8. Dalhousie 139 / (8)
9. McGill 122 / (9)
10. Victoria 106 / (10)

WOMEN'S TRACK & FIELD (first ranking of season)
(points) / (previous rankings)

1. Guelph 97.5 points / (-)
2. Saskatchewan 85.5 / (-)
3. Western 83.5 / (-)
4. Calgary 80 / (-)
5. Toronto 62.5 / (-)
6. Trinity Western 52 / (-)
7. Windsor 43.5 / (-)
8. Alberta 25 / (-)
9. York 22.5 / (-)
10. Regina 20 / (-)

MEN'S TRACK & FIELD (first ranking of season)
(points) / (previous rankings)

1. Windsor 96 points / (-)
2. York 76.5 / (-)
3. Guelph 64.5 / (-)
4. Toronto 57.67 / (-)
5. Western 51.51 / (-)
6. Regina 44.67 / (-)
7. Laval 44 / (-)
8. Sherbrooke 43 / (-)
9. Ottawa 26.17 / (-)
10. Calgary 24.5 / (-)

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

1. UBC (15-1) / 60 points / (1)
2. Brandon (12-4) / 56 / (2)
T3. Montreal (12-3) / 50 / (3)
T3. Trinity Western (12-4) / 50 / (5)
5. UBC Okanagan (10-6) / 38 / (4)
6. Manitoba (10-6) / 37 / (T8)
T7. Laval (12-3) / 31 / (7)
T7. York (11-2) / 31 / (T8)
9. Ottawa (12-3) / 28 / (6)
10. Saint Mary's (8-3) / 27 / (10)

Next highest votes: Dalhousie (18.5), Alberta (14.5), Toronto (10), McGill (8), Guelph (7), Regina (7).

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

1. McMaster (14-0) / 268 points (16) / (1)
2. Trinity Western (15-1) / 265 (13) / (2)
3. Alberta (11-5) / 203 / (3)
4. UBC (11-5) / 195 / (5)
5. Thompson Rivers (11-5) / 188 / (4)
6. Laval (11-3) / 122 / (6)
7. Brandon (7-9) / 82 / (7)
8. Saskatchewan (7-9) / 72 / (8)
9. Waterloo (11-3) / 65 / (10)
10. Calgary (9-7) / 38 / (NR)

WOMEN'S WRESTLING
(previous rankings)

1. Brock / (1)
2. Alberta / (2)
3. Calgary / (3)
4. Saskatchewan / (4)
5. Western / (5)
6. Regina / (6)
7. Lakehead / (7)
8. Guelph / (8)
9. UNB / (9)
10. Concordia / (10)

MEN'S WRESTLING
(previous rankings)

1. Alberta / (1)
2. Brock / (2)
3. Western / (3)
4. Concordia / (4)
5. Saskatchewan / (5)
6. McMaster / (6)
7. UNB / (7)
8. Regina / (8)
9. Winnipeg / (9)
10. Guelph / (10)