Photograph: Deanna Nemeth

Friday February 4th, 2011

Saturday February 5th, 2011

Sunday February 6th, 2011

The Week in Review

The OUA Men’s division only has one week remaining after an interesting week in Ontario. The number one team after next week will get a bye, while ranks two through seven will fight for the right to play in the final four. Western maintained their claim as the best team in the OUA with another two wins during their Waterloo trip. Queen’s did what they could to maintain the pace, winning both of their matches as well. They did get a scare going to five sets with Ryerson, but handled York easily in three sets on the next day. McMaster stumbled, losing to a Guelph team that is biting right at their heels. McMaster went 1-1, while Guelph won both their matches. The two teams now sit tied with the exact same record. Those top four teams are leading the pack by a significant margin.

The remaining teams in the OUA are fighting tooth-and-nail for the final three spots. As it sits now, those teams would be Windsor, Waterloo and Laurier. Ryerson, Toronto and York would do anything to find themselves in those positions. Windsor did themselves a favour by winning two matches this weekend. The key factor is those wins came against Waterloo and Laurier, two of the teams on their heels. Waterloo ended the weekend winless. Though they remain sitting in the playoffs, they needed more from their squad this late in the year. Laurier met the same fate, losing to the same teams as Waterloo. Ryerson, desperately trying to move one spot up, almost beat Queen’s but lost in the fifth set. They did manage a win against winless RMC to put themselves in striking position with one week remaining. The Toronto Varsity Blues lost twice, really moving them to the brink of elimination.

The standings look like this, with Laurier currently in the final playoff position:

Ryerson will get their chance, as they play both Waterloo and Windsor to finish their season.