Perfect seasons, winning-streaks abound as U Sports squads enter winter break

With numerous Canadian university sports wrapping up their respective seasons in November, the first weekend in December also marked the unofficial halfway point for many other sports with teams entering winter break before resuming play in January.

While some teams could certainly use the time off to recoup, many teams across the U Sports landscape will face a different challenge in a month's time of picking up where they left off.

Whether it's in hockey, volleyball or basketball, there's no shortage of scorching hot teams heading into the break.

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Laval top Saskatchewan to capture Vanier Cup

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Staying hot on the ice

There is no question that the hottest team in men's hockey — and maybe U Sports in general — is the Calgary Dinos, who have racked up 13 straight wins on their tear to the top of the Canada West (CW) conference, sitting pretty at 15-3-0.

On Friday, the Dinos found themselves down 4-2 in the final six minutes of play before forwards Arjun Atwal of Edmonton and Riley Stotts of Winnipeg scored within a minute of one another to knot things up at 4.

Stotts also helped factor in on the game-winner in double-overtime, picking up a loose puck in front and creating a rebound for third year forward Jake Gricius, who took care of the rest through the chaos.

Double overtime would be the theme of the weekend as the Dinos found themselves deadlocked 2-2 entering second overtime on Saturday.

There was no question that the hero of the second leg of the back-to-back was Calgary's captain, Noah King.

The defenceman out of Winnipeg took it upon himself to enter the Huskies' zone, getting tripped up in the process but still having the presence of mind to find Brandon, Man., native Connor Gutenberg to keep the play alive. The second-year forward immediately found King open in the slot to send the Dinos into the break on a high.

Lethbridge, Alta., native Carl Tetachuk was in the crease for both games against the Huskies, and has been in net for 11 of the 13 games on Calgary's winning streak.

Despite the torrid stretch, the Dinos still find themselves just behind the University of New Brunswick Reds, who sit atop the Atlantic University Sport (AUS) with a 15-2-1 record.

The Reds will resume their season in Moncton on Jan. 6, carrying a 2-1 head-to-head record against the Aigles Bleus this season.

The Dinos will host the Ukrainian national team on Jan. 2 as part of the Hockey Can't Stop Tour, which will also see Ukraine play the Saskatchewan Huskies, Alberta Golden Bears and Manitoba Bisons.

Streaking Spartans

The 2022 U Sports champion women's volleyball team is looking as dominant as one might expect to start the year.

The Trinity Western Spartans ended their regular season conference schedule in the 2021-22 season with 12 straight wins, which is exactly the way they have begun their 2022-23 title defence.

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The Spartans — who went a combined 9-1 in their 2022 CW playoff schedule as well as the U Sports championship — extended their perfect season with a pair of 3-0 victories over the MacEwan University Griffins on Friday and Saturday.

The Spartans narrowly edged the Thunderbirds 3-2 (25-18, 26-24, 19-25, 20-25, 15-10) and 3-2 (25-22, 20-25, 22-25, 25-17, 15-10) in their late November matches this season.

Abbotsford, B.C., native Emma Gamache was the standout for the Spartans, dominating with 31 digs in the Nov. 26 match, which tied a school record.

The fourth-year libero earned CW player of the week honours for her defensive efforts against an outstanding opponent and now ranks second in the nation with 172 digs, and fourth in digs per set at 4.65.

The 10-2 Thunderbirds hold a staggering 30-2 edge in sets won against their opponents in their 10 victories, while the Spartans have a 30-4 edge in their 10 other matches on the year.

The Brock Badgers complete a trifecta of the top women's volleyball teams in the country.

They also pushed their perfect record to 10-0 on the season with a pair of victories over the University of Toronto on the weekend.

The Badgers are no strangers to perfect seasons, going a combined 16-0 in Ontario University Athletics (OUA) play in the 2021-22 regular season and playoffs before dropping matches to Mount Royal University and the U of T in the 2022 U Sports championship.

Brock will look to continue its perfect season on Jan. 7 against the Nipissing University Lakers, while UBC will host the Saskatchewan Huskies and the Spartans will host the Alberta Golden Bears on Jan. 6.

Crowded field in men's volleyball, women's basketball

In the men's volleyball, we may see the series of the year only a week into 2023.

In a rematch of the 2022 U Sports championship, the defending champion University of Alberta will be travelling to Langley, B.C., to take on Trinity Western in the first weekend of the New Year.

WATCH | Alberta takes down Trinity Western in U Sports championship:

U SPORTS Men’s Volleyball National Championship gold medal game

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The 11-1 Golden Bears are riding an 11-game winning streak after dropping their season-opener to Saskatchewan.

The 11-1 Spartans dropped their only game of the season to the Thunderbirds on Nov. 25.

The Sherbrooke Volontaires are the top team in the RSEQ at 7-1 after a perfect November.

When the OUA women's basketball schedule resumes in early January, it will set up a contentious month of games with three matchups that stand out above the rest: the Ottawa Gee-Gees' Jan. 15 game against the Guelph Gryphons and Jan. 29 match against the Queen's Golden Gaels, as well as Guelph and Queen's Feb. 3 game.

Queen's (10-0), Ottawa (9-0) and Guelph (8-0) are the last remaining undefeated teams in the OUA at the break, joining the 6-0 Bishop's Gaiters of the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) as the only undefeated teams in the country.