Gaels crack CIS Top 10 after victory in OUA Showcase on NBA Centre Court

OTTAWA (CIS) – The McGill University Martlets and University of Alberta Golden Bears are the new teams to beat in CIS women's basketball and men's volleyball, respectively.

The only other change atop the national rankings this week sees the UBC Okanagan Heat take sole possession of first place in women's volleyball, after sharing the No. 1 spot with Trinity Western a week ago.

In other CIS sports, Ryerson (men's basketball), Guelph (women's hockey), UNB (men's hockey), Toronto (women's & men's swimming / women's track and field), Windsor (men's track and field) and Brock (women's & men's wrestling) all hold on to their pole position.

In women's hoops, McGill improved to 12-1 in league play this past weekend thanks to a solid 77-64 win over cross-town rival Concordia. Meanwhile in Edmonton, the Saskatchewan Huskies (17-1), who had topped eight consecutive coaches' polls since mid-November, suffered their first conference loss of the season last Friday, 78-77 in overtime against No. 6 Alberta, before rebounding on Saturday with a 73-61 defeat of the Pandas.

The RSEQ-leading Martlets are ranked No. 1 for the first time in program history, 11 months after reaching their first CIS national final. They had been ranked No. 2 six times this season, including each of the past four weeks.

In men's volleyball, undefeated Alberta (22-0) finally earned No. 1 status after spending the first 13 polls of the campaign in second place behind McMaster (17-1). The Bears were impressive this past weekend with a 3-1, 3-1 sweep against No. 3 Calgary, while the Marauders saw their dreams of an unblemished OUA schedule go up in smoke on Saturday when they dropped a five-set decision at home against Toronto (11-7).

In women's volleyball, UBCO rolled over MacEwen, 3-0 and 3-0, to improve to 20-2 in Canada West action, while Trinity Western dropped to 19-3 following a weekend split against Thomson Rivers (12-12).

NOTES: The CIS winter championship season gets under way next week with swimming at Laval University in Quebec City (Feb. 26-28) and wrestling at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ont. (Feb. 26-27)... Following a one-week break, the action resumes with track and field (March 10-12 at York University), men's volleyball (March 10-12 at McMaster University) and women's volleyball (March 11-13 at Brandon University)... Women's basketball at the University of New Brunswick, men's basketball at the University of British Columbia, women's hockey at the University of Calgary and men's hockey in Halifax (hosted by Saint Mary's University) follow from March 17-20, all part of Sportsnet U Championship Weekend... Championship season concludes with curling at the Kelowna Curling Club from March 20-23.

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

1. McGill (12-1) / 541 points (25) / (2)
2. Saskatchewan (17-1) / 537 (22) / (1)
3. Saint Mary's (15-1) / 456 / (4)
4. Ryerson (12-3) / 388 / (5)
5. Regina (16-2) / 385 / (3)
6. Alberta (17-2) / 371 / (6)
7. Ottawa (13-2) / 275 / (9)
8. McMaster (11-4) / 226 / (7)
9. Queen's (13-3) / 162 / (NR)
10. Laval (8-5) / 147 / (8)

Other teams receiving votes: Calgary (74), Windsor (33).

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

1. Ryerson (14-1) / 470 points (47) / (1)
2. Carleton (12-3) / 398 / (3)
3. Ottawa (13-2) / 386 / (2)
4. Calgary (16-3) / 336 / (4)
5. McMaster (10-5) / 269 / (6)
6. UBC (14-4) / 224 / (7)
7. Brock (10-5) / 197 / (5)
8. McGill (9-4) / 139 / (8)
9. Dalhousie (12-5) / 83 / (10)
10. Manitoba (15-5) / 52 / (NR)

Other teams receiving votes: Thompson Rivers (14), UPEI (7).

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

1. Guelph (20-2-1) / (1)
2. Montreal (14-3-1) / (2)
3. McGill (12-5-2) / (3)
4. Toronto (15-4-3) / (4)
5. Saint Mary's (17-6-1) / (5)
6. St. Thomas (16-7-1) / (6)
7. Western (14-8-1) / (7)
8. Ottawa (10-6-2) / (8)
9. UBC (16-9-3) / (9)
10. Alberta (16-9-3) / (NR)

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

1. UNB (23-3-2) / 158 points (14) / (1)
2. UQTR (24-3-1) / 143 (2) / (2)
3. Saskatchewan (22-6-0) / 123 / (3)
4. Alberta (19-7-2) / 111 / (5)
5. Acadia (19-7-2) / 81 / (4)
6. StFX (18-6-4) / 80 / (8)
7. McGill (21-6-1) / 76 / (6)
8. Carleton (20-7-1) / 41 / (9)
9. Mount Royal (17-8-3) / 29 / (7)
10. Saint Mary's (17-8-3) / 27 / (10)

Other teams receiving votes: Western (6), UOIT (2), York (2), Queen's (1).

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

1. Toronto 622 points / (1)
2. UBC 543 / (2)
3. Laval 301 / (3)
4. Western 209 / (7)
5. Dalhousie 206 / (6)
6. Calgary 197 / (4)
7. Montreal 187 / (5)
8. McGill 106 / (8)
9. Guelph 93 / (NR)
10. McMaster 72 / (NR)

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

1. Toronto 589 points / (1)
2. UBC 334 / (2)
3. Calgary 276 / (3)
4. Alberta 249 / (4)
5. Western 210 / (NR)
6. Ottawa 178 / (7)
7. Dalhousie 135 / (5)
8. McMaster 134 / (NR)
9. Laval 125 / (6)
10. Guelph 116 / (8)

WOMEN'S TRACK & FIELD
(points) / (previous ranking)

1. Toronto 126.5 points / (1)
2. Guelph 67.5 / (2)
3. Alberta 60.5 / (3)
4. Western 58.5 / (4)
5. York 55.5 / (5)
6. Calgary 49 / (NR)
7. Windsor 48.5 / (6)
8. Trinity Western 41.5 / (8)
9. Dalhousie 32 / (7)
10. Sherbrooke 28 / (10)

MEN'S TRACK & FIELD
(points) / (previous ranking)

1. Windsor 107 points / (1)
2. Toronto 72.5 / (2)
3. Guelph 62 / (3)
4. Laval 60.5 / (4)
5. York 52 / (5)
6. Western 46 / (7)
7. Saskatchewan 44 / (8)
8. Dalhousie 31.5 / (9)
9. Trinity Western 29 / (6)
10. Lethbridge 24 / (NR)

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

1. UBC Okanagan (20-2) / 60 points / (T1)
2. Toronto (17-0) / 55 / (3)
3. Trinity Western (19-3) / 53 / (T1)
4. Alberta (18-4) / 48 / (4)
5. Montreal (17-5) / 41 / (5)
6. UBC (16-6) / 40.5 / (6)
7. McMaster (14-3) / 34.5 / (7)
8. Dalhousie (12-3) / 31 / (8)
9. McGill (15-7) / 30.5 / (T9)
10. Sherbrooke (15-7) / 24 / (T9)

Next highest votes: Western (18.5), Brandon (17), Thompson Rivers (12), Memorial (8), Ryerson (4.5).

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

1. Alberta (22-0) / 287 points (26) / (2)
2. McMaster (17-1) / 262 (4) / (1)
3. Calgary (17-5) / 225 / (3)
4. Manitoba (18-4) / 215 / (4)
5. Winnipeg (14-8) / 164 / (5)
6. Trinity Western (13-9) / 117 / (8)
7. Laval (14-3) / 92 / (6)
8. Queen's (14-5) / 76 / (T10)
9. Saskatchewan (13-9) / 70 / (NR)
10. UBC (12-10) / 44 / (7)

WOMEN'S WRESTLING
(previous ranking)

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

MEN'S WRESTLING
(previous ranking)

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