19^th CIS women's rugby championship: Draw and schedule announced

TORONTO (U Sports) – The draw and schedule were announced Monday for the 2016 Canadian Interuniversity Sport women's rugby championship.

The tournament, hosted for the second time by the University of Victoria, kicks off on Thursday at Wallace Field and concludes Sunday with the gold-medal final at 3 p.m. PT.

The teams set to compete for the Monilex Trophy are the top-seeded Guelph Gryphons (OUA champions), No. 2 Ottawa Gee-Gees (RSEQ champs), No. 3 Calgary Dinos (Canada West champs), No. 4 StFX X-Women (AUS champs), No. 5 Concordia Stingers (RSEQ finalists), No. 6 Acadia Axewomen (AUS finalists), No. 7 McMaster Marauders (OUA finalists) and No. 8 Victoria Vikes (hosts/Canada West finalists).

Thursday's quarter-final matchups include Calgary vs. Acadia in the opener at 12 p.m., followed by Ottawa vs. McMaster at 2 p.m., StFX vs. Concordia at 5 p.m., as well as host Victoria vs. Guelph at 7 p.m.

Guelph captured its first OUA title since 2012 on Friday night, dethroning defending national champion and No.1-ranked McMaster 24-7 on the road. In other conference finals over the past two weekends, Ottawa defeated Concordia 29-19 in the RSEQ championship, while StFX reclaimed the AUS banner over Acadia with a 62-0 shutout, in a rematch of the 2015 final. Calgary took the Canada West championship via a 29-14 victory over Victoria.

The Marauders will be looking for their second straight Monilex trophy. The X-Women have won the women's rugby championship four times over the last decade while the Gryphons have a pair of titles to their name in 1998 and 2011.

NOTES: Seeding for the CIS championship is based on conference results at the previous year's tournament...A complete championship preview will follow on Tuesday... The 2016 individual award winners and all-Canadian teams will be announced on Wednesday.

Official championship website: http://english.cis-sic.ca/championships/wrugby/index    

DRAW

1. Guelph Gryphons (OUA champions: 5-0 regular season / 3-0 playoffs)
2. Ottawa Gee-Gees (RSEQ champions: 7-0 regular season / 2-0 playoffs)
3. Calgary Dinos (Canada West champions: 4-0 regular season / 2-0 playoffs)
4. StFX X-Women (AUS champions: 6-0 regular season / 1-0 playoffs)
5. Concordia Stingers (RSEQ finalists: 5-2 regular season / 1-1 playoffs)
6. Acadia Axewomen (AUS finalists: 4-2 regular season / 1-1 playoffs)
7. McMaster Marauders (OUA finalists: 5-0 regular season / 2-1 playoffs)
8.  Victoria Vikes (Hosts/Canada West finalists: 3-1 regular season / 1-1 playoffs) 

CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE (All times Pacific Time)

Wednesday, Nov. 2

18:30 All-Canadian Awards Gala (Harbour Towers Hotel & Suites)

Thursday, Nov. 3

12:00 Quarter-final 1: No. 3 Calgary vs. No. 6 Acadia
14:00 Quarter-final 2: No. 2 Ottawa vs. No. 7 McMaster
17:00 Quarter-final 3: No. 4 StFX vs. No. 5 Concordia
19:00 Quarter-final 4: No. 1 Guelph vs. No. 8 Victoria 

Friday, Nov. 4

17:00 Semifinal 1: Winner QF 1 vs. Winner QF 2
19:00 Semifinal 2: Winner QF 3 vs. Winner QF 4 

Saturday, Nov. 5

12:00 Consolation 1: Loser QF 1 vs. Loser QF 2
14:00 Consolation 2: Loser QF 3 vs. Loser QF 4 

Sunday, Nov. 6

11:00 Fifth place
13:00 Bronze medal
15:00 Championship final