Defending OUA champs McMaster open season ranked No. 3 in U Sports Top 10 rankings

TORONTO (U Sports) – The Alberta Golden Bears (men) and Trinity Western Spartans (women) open the season as the top-ranked U Sports volleyball teams in the country, while the UBC Thunderbirds are the new team to beat in U Sports women’s hockey.

Alberta earned 267 points to claim the No.1 position, ahead of defending national champion Trinity Western, reigning silver medalist McMaster, Manitoba and Calgary. On the women’s side, the Spartans, received 60 points in the first coaches' poll to open in top spot, with Alberta, UBC Okanagan, Montreal and 2016 gold medalist Toronto rounding out the top five.

Last March, the Golden Bears captured the bronze medal at the CIS championship, conceding the national title after winning back to back Tantramar Trophies in 2014 and 2015. Alberta opens its Canada West regular season in search of its third championship in four seasons with a pair of matches at Thompson Rivers this weekend.

The Spartans women won silver last winter, failing to defend its 2015 title with a straight sets loss to Toronto, in a rematch of the 2014 gold medal match. Trinity Western begins its quest to reclaim the U Sports national championship with a weekend set at Regina.

In women’s hockey, UBC (5-1-0) leapfrogs Montreal (1-2-0) and Saint Mary’s (3-0-1) to claim the coveted No.1 ranking in women’s hockey for the first time in program history, after two straight wins at Alberta.  

In other U Sports rankings, UNB (men’s hockey), Laval (men’s cross county and women’s soccer), Guelph (women’s cross country) and York (men’s soccer) all maintain their pole positions for another week.

MEN’S VOLLEYBALL
(regular season record) / votes (1st place votes) / (previous ranking)

1. Alberta (0-0) / 267 pts (18) / (-)
2. Trinity Western (0-0) / 221 pts (10) / (-)
3. McMaster (0-0) / 193 pts / (-)
4. Manitoba (0-0) / 176 pts / (-)
5. Calgary (0-0) / 138 pts / (-)
6. Laval (0-0) / 136 pts / (-)
7. Montreal (0-0) / 98 pts / (-)
8. Saskatchewan (0-0) / 96 pts / (-)
9. Mount Royal (0-0) / 51 pts / (-)
10. UNB (0-0) / 40 pts / (-)

Other teams receiving votes: Waterloo (37), Western (31), Winnipeg (23), UBC (14)
 
WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL
(regular season record) / votes / (previous ranking)

1. Trinity Western (0-0) / 60 pts / (-)
2. Alberta (0-0) / 56 pts / (-)
3. UBC Okanagan (0-0) / 50 pts / (-)
4. Montreal (1-0) / 47 pts / (-)
5. Toronto (0-0) / 40.5 pts / (-) 
6. McMaster (0-0) / 39.5 pts / (-)
7. Calgary (0-0) / 35 pts / (-)   
8. UBC (0-0) / 32 pts / (-)
9. Brandon (0-0) / 24 pts / (-)
10. Dalhousie (0-0) / 23 pts / (-) 

Other teams receiving votes: Memorial (20), Laval (15), Western (12), Sherbrooke (10), Ottawa (8)

WOMEN’S HOCKEY
(regular season record) / votes / (previous ranking)

1. UBC (5-1-0) / 40 pts/ (2)
2. Saint Mary's (3-0-1) / 34 pts / (3)
3. Montreal (1-2-0) / 33 pts / (1)
4. St. Thomas (4-0-0) / 27 pts / (5)
5. McGill (2-0-0) / 24 pts / (6)
6. Guelph (2-1-1) / 22 pts / (4)
7. Manitoba (6-0-0) / 14 pts / (9)
8. Western (2-2-0) / 9pts / (7)
9. Saskatchewan (5-1-0) / 8 pts / (10)
10. Alberta (2-1-3) / 7 pts / (8)

Other teams receiving votes: Nipissing (2)

MEN’S HOCKEY
(regular season record) / votes (1st place votes) / (previous ranking)

1. UNB (4-0-2) / 142 pts (9) / (1)
2. StFX (4-2-0) / 127 pts (4) / (2)
3. Saskatchewan (4-1-1) / 97 pts / (3)
4. Mount Royal (4-0-0) / 96 pts / (8)
5. UOIT (5-0-0) / 93 pts (1) / (5)
6. Ryerson (4-0-1) / 64 pts / (6)
7. Alberta (2-2-0) / 56 pts (1) / (4)
8. UPEI (3-1-2) / 47 pts / (9)
9. Concordia (4-1-0) / 36 pts / (NR)
10. UQTR (4-2-0) / 34 pts / (7)


Other teams receiving votes:  Dalhousie (10), Windsor (10), Calgary (5), York (4), Carleton (2), Lethbridge (1), Queen's (1)

WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY
(points) / (previous ranking)

1.        Guelph / 95pts / (1)
2.       Trinity Western / 90pts / (2)
3.        Toronto / 73pts /  (3)
4.       Western / 56pts / (4)
4.       Calgary / 56pts / (6)
6.       Queen's / 40pts / (5)
7.       Victoria / 33pts / (7)
8.       McGill / 29pts / (9)
9.       Dalhousie / 28pts / (8)
10.   McMaster / 18pts / (10)

Other teams receiving votes:  Laval  (15), Alberta (10), Lakehead (5), MacEwan (5), Laurentian (3)

WOMEN’S SOCCER
(regular season record) / votes / (previous ranking)

1. Laval (11-0-1) / 60 pts / (1)
2. Trinity Western (11-0-3) / 54 pts / (2)
3. UOIT (13-2-1) / 47 pts / (3)
4. York (11-2-3) / 38 pts / (4)
5. Calgary (9-1-4) / 37 pts / (5)
6. Montreal (9-1-1) / 29 pts / (6)
7. Cape Breton (10-1-0) / 26 pts / (7)
8. UFV (9-2-3) / 17 pts / (9)
9. Ottawa (9-3-4) / 6 pts / (8)
10. Western (9-1-6) / 6 pts / (10)

* Ottawa edges Western for No. 9 spot thanks to a higher ranking the previous week.

Other teams receiving votes: Queen’s (5) Memorial (3) UBC (1), Acadia (1)

MEN’S SOCCER
(regular season record) / votes / (previous ranking)

1. York (14-0-2) / 60 pts / (1)
2. Alberta (13-1-2) / 54 pts / (2)
3. Ryerson (14-1-1) / 45 pts / (3)
4. Guelph (12-2-2) / 41 pts / (4)
5. Toronto (12-2-2) / 27 pts / (7)
6. Laval 6-4-1 23 pts (6)
7. Cape Breton (8-2-1) / 17 pts / (5)
8. UQAM (4-0-6) / 17 pts / (10)
9. Acadia (7-1-2) / 14 pts / (NR)
10. UBC (9-1-6) / 13 pts / (NR)

Other teams receiving votes:  StFX (9), Dalhousie (6), Carleton (5)