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CIS Top 10 Tuesday (#8): Alberta, UBC, UNB top inaugural rankings in volleyball, hockey
OTTAWA (CIS) - Reigning national champion Alberta, UBC and UNB
top the first CIS rankings of the 2009-10 season in men's
volleyball, women's volleyball and men's hockey, respectively.
In men's volleyball, the two-time defending champion Golden Bears,
who have played in the last eight CIS finals, winning four of them,
open at No. 1 for the third straight year. Alberta has now topped
the last 34 national coaches polls going back to November of 2006
(1 for 1 in 2009-10, 13 of 13 in 2008-09, 12 of 12 in 2007-08, last
8 polls of 2006-07).
The Bears, who went 12-0 in the pre-season including a 6-0 mark
against CIS opponents, kick off conference play this weekend with a
pair of home tilts against the No. 4-Calgary Dinos, Friday and
Saturday. The regular schedule also gets under way this week in
Ontario, while AUS teams join the action on Oct. 31 and Quebec
schools on Nov. 6.
Rounding out the first men's volleyball Top 10 of the campaign are
No. 2-McMaster, No. 3-Laval, No. 5-Manitoba, No. 6-UBC, No.
7-Dalhousie, No. 8-Brandon, No. 9-Winnipeg and No. 10-Trinity
Western.
In women's volleyball, the two-time defending gold-medallist
Thunderbirds are ranked No. 1 for the first time since January of
2003.
UBC opens ahead of No. 2-Montreal, which led all 13 national polls
last season before settling for bronze at the CIS championship, and
No. 3-Manitoba, which topped all 14 polls in 2007-08.
The top-ranked T-Birds kick off the regular season this weekend
when they host Winnipeg, Friday and Saturday. Conference play got
under way on Oct. 16 in the OUA with Western defeating Laurier in
straight sets. AUS teams hit the floor this weekend, while the
Quebec schedule is set to start on Oct. 30.
Rounding out the first women's volleyball Top 10 of the fall are
No. 4-Calgary, No. 5-Alberta, No. 6-Laval, No. 7-Regina, No.
8-Trinity Western, No. 9-McGill and No. 10-UNB.
In men's hockey, the reigning University Cup champion Varsity Reds
open at No. 1 for the second time in three years. UNB dominated
UPEI 10-0 and Moncton 9-3 in the first weekend of AUS
regular-season action.
Perennial powerhouse Alberta, which led the first 13 national polls
a year ago before falling behind UNB in the final Top 10, begins
the campaign No. 2. The Golden Bears, who hold the all-time record
of 13 University Cup titles, are off to a 3-0-1 start in Canada
West conference play.
Rounding out the initial men's hockey media poll are No. 3-Manitoba
(4-1-1), No. 4-UQTR (3-0), No. 5-Saint Mary's (1-0), No. 6-Brock
(4-0), No. 7-Lakehead (3-0-1), No. 8-McGill (2-0), No. 9-UBC
(3-0-1) and No. 10-Waterloo (3-0-1).
In other national rankings this week, Montreal takes over at No. 1
from Trinity Western in both women's and men's soccer, while
defending CIS champion Lethbridge, McGill and Guelph hold on to No.
1 in women's rugby, women's hockey and women's and men's cross
country, respectively.
In women's soccer, the Carabins (10-0) had been second behind the
Spartans (9-1) in the first seven polls of the season. Montreal was
No. 1 in the last seven rankings a year ago before claiming CIS
bronze.
In men's soccer, the Carabins (7-1-1) return to the top of the
rankings they had occupied for two weeks earlier this fall, before
the Spartans took over in the last three polls.
In women's rugby, the two-time defending CIS champion Pronghorns
are No. 1 for the seventh time in seven polls in 2009.
Lethbridge, which finished the regular season with a perfect 4-0
record, faces Victoria Friday in a Canada West semi-final. A win
would earn the Pronghorns a spot in Sunday's conference final and a
berth in the CIS championship to be hosted by UBC, Nov. 6-8.
In women's hockey, the Martlets (2-0), who lead the Top 10 for the
third time in as many weeks, blanked Ottawa 6-0 on Saturday to
extend their overall win streak against CIS opponents to 56 games
going back to a 2-1 shootout loss to Alberta on Dec. 30, 2007.
Alberta holds the CIS record of 67 consecutive overall
victories.
McGill has been ranked No. 1 in each of the past 32 national polls
dating back to November, 2007.
In cross country, the Gryphon women and men, both three-time
defending national champions, top the two polls for the third
straight week.
Guelph swept the team banners Saturday at the Queen's Invitational
held on the Fort Henry course, where Queen's will host the CIS
championships on Nov. 14.
WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
(votes) / (previous rankings)
1. Guelph (98.7 points) / (1)
2. McMaster (72) / (2)
3. Calgary (65.3) / (3)
4. Toronto (61.3) / (4)
5. StFX (59.3) / (5)
6. Victoria (39.3) / (6)
7. Western Ontario (34.7) / (7)
8. Queen's (31.3) / (10)
9. Laval (29.3) / (8)
10. Manitoba (18.7) / (9)
MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
(votes) / (previous rankings)
1. Guelph (96.9 points) / (1)
2. Windsor (84.4) / (2)
3. StFX (76.9) / (5)
4. Calgary (59.4) / (3)
5. Victoria (50.0) / (4)
6. Regina (38.1) / (8)
7. Queen's (34.4) / (9)
8. Toronto (30.0) / (7)
9. Western Ontario (28.1) / (6)
10. McMaster (14.4) / (10)
WOMEN'S HOCKEY
(regular season record) / (previous rankings)
1. McGill (2-0) / (1)
2. Wilfrid Laurier (2-0) / (2)
3. Alberta (4-0) / (5)
4. StFX (2-0) / (6)
5. Manitoba (0-2) / (3)
6. Moncton (1-1) / (4)
7. Guelph (3-1) / (7)
8. Queen's (4-0) / (9)
9. Saskatchewan (4-0) / (8)
T10. York (1-1) / (10)
T10. Saint Mary's (2-0) / (NR)
T10. Toronto (1-1) / (NR)
T10. Montreal (2-0) / (NR)
MEN'S HOCKEY
(regular season record) / (votes) / (previous
rankings)
1. UNB (2-0) / 166 points / (-)
2. Alberta (3-0-1) / 135 / (-)
3. Manitoba (4-1-1) / 95 / (-)
4. UQTR (3-0) / 80 / (-)
5. Saint Mary's (1-0) / 78 / (-)
6. Brock (4-0) / 77 / (-)
7. Lakehead (3-0-1) / 76 / (-)
8. McGill (2-0) / 61 / (-)
9. UBC (3-0-1) / 40 / (-)
10. Waterloo (3-0-1) / 33 / (-)
Other teams receiving votes: Acadia (26), Wilfrid Laurier (25),
StFX (18), Saskatchewan (12), Western Ontario (5), Nipissing (4),
Carleton (4).
WOMEN'S RUGBY
(regular season record) / (votes) / (previous rankings)
1. Lethbridge (4-0) / 160 points / (1)
2. StFX (6-0) / 132 / (2)
3. Guelph (5-0 / 1-0 playoffs) / 126 / (3)
4. Laval (6-0) / 103 / (4)
5. Alberta (3-1) / 81 / (5)
6. McMaster (4-1 / 1-0 playoffs) / 77 / (6)
7. Western Ontario (3-2 / 1-0 playoffs) / 59 / (7)
8. Concordia (5-1) / 48 / (9)
9. Queen's (4-1 / 1-0 playoffs) / 28 / (10)
10. UBC (2-2) / 19 / (8)
Other teams receiving votes: Saint Mary's (3), Ottawa (3), Trent
(1), Waterloo (1).
WOMEN'S SOCCER
(regular season record) / (votes) / (previous
rankings)
1. Montreal (10-0-0) / 39 points / (2)
2. Trinity Western (9-1-0) / 38 / (1)
3. Queen's (11-1-2) / 31 / (6)
4. Victoria (6-1-3) / 28 / (4)
5. Ottawa (10-2-2) / 24 / (3)
6. Dalhousie (6-0-3) / 18 / (7)
7. Laval (7-3-0) / 9 / (NR)
8. UPEI (7-1-1) / 8 / (NR)
9. York (9-2-1) / 7 / (NR)
10. Wilfrid Laurier (9-2-1) / 6 / (5)
MEN'S SOCCER
(regular season record) / points / (previous rankings)
1. Montreal (7-1-1) / 59 points / (2)
2. York (8-2-2) / 51 / (3)
3. Trinity Western (6-1-3) / 48 / (1)
4. Dalhousie (6-0-3) / 42 / (4)
5. Toronto (10-1-2) / 39 / (6)
6. UPEI (7-2-0) / 32 / (7)
7. UBC (7-3-0) / 28 / (8)
8. Alberta (5-1-4) / 17 / (5)
9. Windsor (7-1-4) / 10 / (NR)
10. Queen's (7-1-4) / 5 / (NR)
Other teams receiving votes: UNB, Guelph, Cape Breton, Laval.
WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
(regular season record) / (votes) / (previous rankings)
1. UBC (0-0) / 60 points / (-)
2. Montreal (0-0) / 54 / (-)
3. Manitoba (0-0) / 49 / (-)
4. Calgary (0-0) / 47 / (-)
5. Alberta (0-0) / 42 / (-)
6. Laval (0-0) / 40 / (-)
7. Regina (0-0) / 34 / (-)
8. Trinity Western (0-0) / 31 / (-)
9. McGill (0-0) / 26 / (-)
10. UNB (0-0) / 25 / (-)
Next highest vote getters (11 to 15): Brandon (22), Waterloo (16),
Western Ontario (12), Toronto (9), Sherbrooke (7).
MEN'S VOLLEYBALL
(regular season record) / points / (previous rankings)
1. Alberta (0-0) / 228.5 points / (-)
2. McMaster (0-0) / 180.5 / (-)
3. Laval (0-0) / 160 / (-)
4. Calgary (0-0) / 139.5 / (-)
5. Manitoba (0-0) / 106.5 / (-)
6. UBC (0-0) / 98.5 / (-)
7. Dalhousie (0-0) / 94.5 / (-)
8. Brandon (0-0) / 65.5 / (-)
9. Winnipeg (0-0) / 50 / (-)
10. Trinity Western (0-0) / 49.33 / (-)
-CIS-
