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CIS Top Ten Tuesday (#9): No. 1 Lethbridge advances to CIS rugby championship
OTTAWA (CIS) – The two-time defending national champion
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, McGill in women’s hockey, 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.
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-
