Another pair of weekend doubleheaders at the Tait McKenzie Centre awaits the York Lions men's and women's basketball teams as they head into the stretch run leading up to the Ontario University Athletics playoffs.
Following a Wednesday night visit to Laurentian to take on the Voyageurs (Wednesday, 6pm), the women will look to extend their five-game home winning streak when they play host to the Ryerson Rams (Friday, 6pm) and University of Toronto Varsity Blues (Saturday, 6pm). Led by the OUA's third-leading scorer, Laura MacCallum, the Lions are hoping to improve on their 13-2 record and maintain their hold on first place in the OUA East standings.
Their male counterparts, meanwhile, will aim to snap a two-game losing skid and regain the form that saw them score 91 points in a win over the Royal Military College Paladins. Team-leading scorer Tut Ruach and his Lions teammates will join the women in a trip to Laurentian (Wednesday, 8pm), followed by home games against Ryerson (Friday, 8pm) and Toronto (Saturday, 8pm).
Also competing at home this weekend will be the York Lions men's and women's hockey teams. Riding a wave of momentum from their current four-game win streak, the men will take to the ice at the Keele campus’ Canlan Ice Sports to host the McGill Redmen (Wednesday, 7pm) and the Guelph Gryphons (Saturday, 2pm) as they bid to close the four-point gap separating them from the first-place Brock Badgers in the OUA Mid West division. York forward Tyler Harrison has been red hot of late, collecting five points (three goals, two assists) in a pair of wins last weekend.
After a visit to Varsity Arena to take on U of T (Thursday, 730pm), the women's team will take a break from OUA regular season play to play host to the Stoney Creek Sabres of the Stoney Creek Girls Hockey Association (Saturday, 6pm) and the Carleton Ravens (Sunday, 2pm) in exhibition action. Fresh off a 2-1 overtime win over the Guelph Gryphons, the Lions will need to continue their winning ways as the regular season winds down and the OUA playoffs draw closer.
Also gearing up for the OUA regular season stretch run are the men's and women's volleyball teams, who will be on the road this weekend for visits to play the Queen's Golden Gaels and RMC Paladins. OUA leading scorer Paul Podstawka will lead the men as they look to top the .500 mark for the season with games at Queen's (Saturday, 8pm) and RMC (Sunday, 3:30pm).
The women head into the weekend as winners of six of their past seven matches, appearing primed to make a run towards the top of the OUA East standings. They will attempt to extend their hot streak with contests against the Golden Gaels (Saturday, 6pm) and Paladins (Sunday, 2pm) this weekend. Much of the Lions' recent success can be attributed to the play of libero Antonia Stathakos, who leads the OUA with 248 digs.
In other York sporting action, the men's and women's track & field squads will head to Montreal for the McGill Team Challenge (Saturday). York's Kristin Obrochta will join the team in Montreal, fresh off a gold medal performance in the women's weight throw at the 2008 U of T Nike Invitational.
Finally, in the pool, the York Lions swim team will visit Western's Canada Games Aquatic Centre for a four-team meet that also includes Trent, Waterloo, and Brock (Saturday, 6pm).
Submitted to YFile by Mike Koreen, sport & recreation information officer in York’s School of Kinesiology & Health Science, Faculty of Health.