Two of the York Lions’ hottest teams will be in action at home this weekend as women’s volleyball and women’s hockey continue their Ontario University Athletics (OUA) regular season schedules. The volleyball squad has won 24 straight matches, including conference and tournament play, while the hockey team is the winner of three in a row and seven of their last 10 games.
The women’s volleyball team will be joined by the men’s squad in back-to-back doubleheaders against Kingston-area teams the Queen’s University Gaels and Royal Military College of Canada Paladins. Queen’s will be in town tonight with matches beginning at 6pm (women) and 8pm (men). The schedule will be the same on Saturday evening against RMC.
With a 13-0 record, the Lions are in top spot in the OUA East Division standings and are one of only two Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) teams to remain undefeated on the season. Earlier this week, the women broke into the national rankings for the first time since October 2007 at No. 10. Queen’s is third in the division but is well back of York with an 8-6 record, while the Paladins have yet to win a game this year. If the Lions can continue the play that has brought them this far, they should have no problems extending their winning streak to 26.
Meanwhile, the women’s hockey team is on a roll since the start of the new year and has the second-best record in the OUA in the past 10 games, moving up to fourth in the OUA standings. Ten points separate second place from ninth (OUA-leading Laurier is comfortably in first place), meaning the end of the OUA season is going to be a fight for the six playoff spots. Two teams York is battling for a post-season berth are in town this weekend as the Lions welcome the University of Windsor Lancers and University of Western Ontario Mustangs to Canlan Ice Sports. York faces Windsor on Saturday afternoon at 2pm and will face Western on Sunday at 2pm.
In other Lions’ action, the men’s and women’s basketball teams will face crosstown rivals the Ryerson University Rams tonight, with the men playing at 6pm and the women’s team at 8pm, and the University of Toronto Varsity Blues on Saturday at 6pm and 8pm. The men’s hockey team returns to St. Catharines for a contest against the Brock University Badgers on Saturday at 7:35pm. Also this weekend, members of the Lions track and field team will be in the Fred Foot-Pentathlon and the swim team will be participating in meets at Wilfrid Laurier University and McMaster University.