It was a weekend of transition as the black and gold won an AUS banner in cross country, made the playoffs in soccer, and kicked off the volleyball season.
Cross country
Holly Van Gestel led the women鈥檚 cross country team to its 19th AUS championship with a first place finish this past Saturday. Ashley Ryer, Ashley Chisholm, Cara Groves and Ellen Chappell all placed in the top ten. The female Tigers have claimed the championship title two consecutive years running.
The men鈥檚 cross country team managed to distance themselves from the pack, but were unable to overtake a StFX team that has led the AUS all season. Rookie Matthew McNeil came in third and looks to lead the Tigers next season, while Brent Addison also finished in the top 10.
The entire women鈥檚 team, as well as Matthew McNeil and Brent Addison have qualified for the CIS championship hosted by l鈥橴niversit茅 de Laval on Saturday, November 12.
Soccer
Women鈥檚 and men鈥檚 soccer played their final games of the regular season this past week. A rare Wednesday matchup with SMU saw both Tiger teams lose close games to their cross-town rivals. On Sunday the Tigers hosted Acadia in the pouring rain, which limited the quality of play throughout the day. Rieka Santilli scored in the second half to lead the women鈥檚 team to a 1-0 win, while Acadia took advantage of the poor conditions to claim an upset victory over the men鈥檚 team, 2-0.
This weekend the women鈥檚 team heads to UNB to participate in the AUS championship, while the men鈥檚 team will battle for their title in Cape Breton. Both championship tournaments will start on Friday, November 4.
Hockey
Men鈥檚 hockey hit the road in the brand new Tiger bus to visit UPEI on Friday and UNB on Saturday. The black and gold fell to UPEI 6-2 and CIS number-one ranked UNB 10-1.
The men鈥檚 team hosts StFX on Friday, Nov. 4 at 7 p.m. Dal students will have the chance to win $5,000 cash in the Molson Shoot for Tuition contest and alumnus Ken Bickerton will be honoured.
Facing an equally daunting task in a nationally-ranked StFX team, the women鈥檚 hockey team pressed hard, managing 38 shots, but fell 6-1.
The female hockey Tigers host UPEI on Saturday at 7 p.m. and MtA on Sunday at 2 p.m. this upcoming weekend.
Volleyball
Women鈥檚 volleyball opened the season with a statement, winning their three games over MUN, CBU, and UNB in straight sets. Louise Facca stood out with 31 kills and five aces. The black and gold currently sit tied atop the standings with SMU after three games played.
Dal鈥檚 men鈥檚 volleyball team headed to Quebec in interlock play, losing close games to Laval and Montr茅al before claiming a 3-2 victory over Sherbrooke. The Tigers currently sit second in AUS standings.
Basketball
The women鈥檚 basketball team hosted Waterloo last Friday in their final exhibition match. Keisha Brown drained 22 points and Courtney Thompson had 11 assists as an offensively inclined Tigers squad won 85-63 win. Men鈥檚 basketball lost three close exhibition games in Ontario, 71-68 to Ryerson, 67-59 to U of T, and 75-70 to McMaster.
Wednesday, November 9 marks the home openers for both the women鈥檚 and men鈥檚 teams when they host Acadia at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. respectively.