The OUA Champion McMaster women's rugby team will face a familiar foe to start the 2014 Canadian Interuniversity Sport women's rugby championship, which gets underway later this week in Guelph, Ontario.

Entering as the second seed, the Marauders will open the tournament against the host Guelph Gryphons, who they defeated 19-10 last Saturday to capture the first OUA title in team history.

 The six teams that will compete for the Monilex trophy are the Alberta Pandas,  national champion (seeded No. 1 / Canada West champions), McMaster Marauders (No. 2 / OUA champions), the Gee -Gees of Ottawa (No. 3 / RSEQ champions), the StFX X-Women (No. 4 / AUS champions), the Guelph Gryphons (No. 5 / OUA silver medalists) and the Western Mustangs (No. 6 / OUA bronze medalists).

 The Pandas added to their CIS record last year in Quebec with a sixth title by defeating  Guelph 29-10 in the final. Alberta had previously won five straight titles from 1999 to 2003, their first triumph 15 years ago, also occurring in Guelph.

 StFX won the Monilex trophy on three occasions (2006, 2010, 2012), Guelph (1998, 2011) and Western (2004, 2005) each have two championships, while McMaster and Ottawa are still looking for a first CIS banner. 

 During  2014 playoffs, Alberta beat Calgary 19-11 in the final Canada West; StFX won  19-12 in overtime over Acadia to retain the title of AUS; Ottawa defeated Concordia 13-5 to get their hands on its first RSEQ banner; McMaster won its first OUA title with a 19-10 win against Guelph; Western disposed of by Queen's 22-19 in the duel for the OUA bronze medal.

The tournament, organized by the University of Guelph for the second time in its history, begins Thursday and culminates Sunday with the national final at 2 p.m.
 
The nine games in the competition will be broadcast live on the web at CIS-SIC.tv .

At the CIS tournament, Alberta and StFX Western will compete in Group A, while McMaster, Guelph and Ottawa will compete in Group B.

 The top teams at the end of the first round will go to the final. Teams finishing second face off for the bronze and the last in class will play for fifth place.

 On Thursday, Alberta will face Western at 10:30 am and McMaster will face Guelph at 1:30. StFX and Ottawa will rub the losers of the opening day Friday and Saturday to the winners.

 NOTES: The draw for the CIS championship is based on the results of the conference in the tournament the previous year ... A complete championship preview will follow on Tuesday ... Individual honors CIS and Canadian teams for the 2014 season will be announced Wednesday.
 
Championship website: http://francais.cis-sic.ca/championships/wrugby/index
 
GROUPS
 
Group A
No. 1 Alberta Pandas (Canada West champions: 3-1 regular season / 2-0 playoffs)
No. 4 StFX X-Women (AUS champions: 6-0 regular / season series 2-0)
No. 6 Western Mustangs (OUA bronze medalists: 2-3 regular season / 2-1 playoffs)
 
Group B
No. 2 McMaster Marauders (OUA champions: 4-0-1 regular season / 3-0 playoffs)
No. 3 Gee-Gees (RSEQ champions: 7-0 regular season / 2-0 playoffs)
No. 5 Guelph Gryphons (OUA silver medalists: 3-0-2 regular season / 2-1 playoffs)
 
CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE
 
Wednesday, October 29
6:30 p.m.-Canadian Gala (Holiday Inn)
 
Thursday, October 30
10:30 Group A: Alberta vs Western ( CIS-SIC.tv )
1:30 p.m. Group B: Guelph vs. McMaster ( CIS-SIC.tv )
 
Friday, October 31
10:30 Group A: Loser (Alberta-Western) vs StFX ( CIS-SIC.tv )
1:30 p.m. Group B: Loser (McMaster-Guelph) vs Ottawa ( CIS-SIC.tv )
 
Saturday, Nov. 1
10:30 Group A: Won (Alberta-Western) vs StFX ( CIS-SIC.tv )
1:30 p.m. Group B Won (McMaster-Guelph) vs Ottawa ( CIS-SIC.tv )
 
Sunday, November 2
10:00 Fifth position: 3 ^e Group A vs 3 ^e Group B ( CIS-SIC.tv )
12:00 Bronze: 2 ^e A vs Group 2 ^E Group B ( CIS-SIC.tv )
14:00 Championship final: 1 ^st Group A vs 1 ^st Group B ( CIS-SIC.tv )
 
About Canadian Interuniversity Sport
 
Canadian Interuniversity Sport is the national governing body of university sport in Canada. Each year, more than 11,500 student-athletes and 700 coaches from 56 universities and four regional associations are in competition for 21 national championships in 12 different sports. CIS also provides many opportunities internationally through the Winter Universiade and summer, as well as numerous world university championships. For more information, visit www.cis-sic.ca or follow us on:
 
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/CIS_SIC
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/cissports
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/universitysport
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/CIS_SIC
 
- CIS -
 
For more information, please contact:
 
Michel Bélanger
Manager, Communications & Media Relations
Canadian Interuniversity Sport
Bur: 613-562-5670 p. 25
Cell: 613-447-6334
belanger@sportuniversitaire.ca