2018-19 AUS winter sport schedules announced

(HALIFAX, N.S.) – Atlantic University Sport is pleased to announce the 2018-19 regular season sport schedules for hockey, basketball and volleyball, as well as the hosts for the 2019 AUS winter championships. 

 

All AUS regular season and postseason games will be webcast at AUStv.ca powered by Bell Aliant and select games will be broadcast live on Bell Aliant's Fibe TV on the TV1 channel (channel 1). 

 

 

The 2018-19 women's hockey season is set to begin Friday, Oct. 12 at 7 p.m. with three games on opening night. 

 

The three-time defending AUS champion Saint Mary's Huskies will visit the Mount Allison Mounties in Sackville, N.B. in their first game of the regular season.

 

The UNB Varsity Reds women's hockey team, returning to AUS conference play this season, will host Mount Allison in their home opener Saturday, Oct. 13 at 7 p.m. in Fredericton. The Varsity Reds last competed in the Atlantic conference in the 2007-08 season. The team will be led by head coach Sarah Hilworth this season.

 

The Aigles Bleues' Marc-André Côté will also see his first action as Moncton's head coach Oct. 13 as the Aigles host the StFX X-Women in their home opener at 7 p.m.

 

Fall semester play concludes Saturday, Dec. 1 and resumes Friday, Jan. 4 following the holiday break. 

 

The regular season wraps up Sunday, Feb. 10.

 

The top six teams in the standings will move on to post-season play. Three rounds of playoff series will be played with the top two seeds receiving byes into the semi-final round.

 

The quarterfinals will feature the third-place team taking on the sixth-place finisher, while the fourth-place team will face off against the fifth-place team.

 

The quarter-final, semi-final and final rounds will once again each be best-of-three affairs using a 'home-away-home' format where the higher seeded team will host the opening game of the series as well as the third and deciding game, if necessary.

 

The 2019 U SPORTS Women's Hockey Championship will be hosted by UPEI in Charlottetown, P.E.I., March 14-17.

  

As hosts, the Panthers receive an automatic berth in the national championship. A second Atlantic conference berth will be awarded to the AUS champion. Should UPEI claim the conference title, the second berth will be awarded to the AUS runner up.

 

 

The 2018-19 men's hockey season is set to begin Wednesday, Sept. 26 with the UPEI Panthers playing host to the Moncton Aigles Bleus. 

 

The remaining five teams open their seasons Friday, Sept. 28 at 7 p.m. The reigning AUS champion UNB Varsity Reds will host UPEI in Fredericton, N.B. The 2018 U SPORTS silver medallist StFX X-Men will visit the Acadia Axemen in Wolfville, N.S., and the Dalhousie Tigers visit their crosstown rivals—the Saint Mary's Huskies—at the Halifax Forum.

 

First semester play wraps up Saturday, Dec. 1 and the winter schedule kicks off Friday, Jan. 4.

 

The final games of the regular season will be played Saturday, Feb. 9, making way for the quarter-final playoff round of the Subway AUS Men's Hockey Championship. 

 

This year's AUS playoff format will once again feature a pair of best-of-three quarter-final series, followed by a best-of-five format in the semifinals and a best-of-three final round.

 

AUS is guaranteed two berths in the 2019 U SPORTS David Johnston University Cup, which is being hosted by the University of Lethbridge in Lethbridge, Alta. March 14-17.

 

The Atlantic conference berths will go to the AUS champion and runner up. 

 

The 2018-19 AUS men's and women's basketball regular season is set to begin Thursday, Nov. 1 with Acadia visiting Saint Mary's.  

 

The doubleheader gets underway with the reigning AUS champion Axewomen taking on the Huskies at 6 p.m. The Axemen will then face off with the Huskies in the men's game at 8 p.m. 

 

The AUS champion UNB Varsity Reds men's team will first see action the following night at 8 p.m. when they visit StFX in a rematch of the 2018 championship final. StFX's Steve 'Coach K' Konchalski will kick off his 44^th season as head coach of the X-Men.

 

The women's teams face off at 6 p.m. with newly appointed X-Women coach Lee Anna Osei making her AUS debut.

 

The UPEI Panthers' newly appointed women's basketball head coach Matt Gamblin will make his AUS debut Saturday Nov. 3 as the 2018 AUS runners-up host the Memorial Sea-Hawks in their home opener at 6 p.m. The men's game will follow at 8 p.m.

 

Fall semester play will wrap up Sunday, Nov. 25 with the Memorial Sea-Hawks teams visiting the Cape Breton Capers. Regular season play resumes Jan. 4 for the winter semester.

The regular season concludes Sunday, Feb. 23.

 

The 2019 Subway AUS Basketball Championships will once again be hosted by the AUS conference office at Scotiabank Centre in Halifax, N.S.

This year's championships will take place March 1-3. 

 

Last season, the Subway AUS Women's Basketball Championship joined the men's championship permanently as a yearly fixture at Scotiabank Centre. The joint event first began as a pilot project in 2015. 

 

The AUS women's champion will advance to the 2019 U SPORTS women's basketball championship being hosted March 7-10 by Ryerson University. 

 

The Atlantic conference will once again have two berths in the men's national championship as Dalhousie hosts the U SPORTS Final 8 men's basketball championship March 7-10 at Scotiabank Centre in Halifax. 

 

The AUS berths will go to Dalhousie, as host, and the AUS champion. Should the Tigers capture the 2019 AUS title, the second Atlantic conference berth will be awarded to the runner up.

 

 

The 2018-19 women's volleyball season is set to begin Friday, Oct. 26 the Moncton Aigles Bleues playing host to the UNB Varsity Reds in Moncton, N.B at 7 p.m.

 

The six-time defending AUS champion Dalhousie Tigers open the regular season with two games on opening weekend. They will visit the cross-town rival Saint Mary's Huskies Saturday, Oct. 27 at 7 p.m.

 

Sunday, Oct. 28, they will play host to the Acadia Axewomen in a rematch of the hard-fought 2018 AUS championship final which the Tigers won in five sets.

 

The top four ranked women's volleyball teams following regular season play will qualify for the AUS championship.

 

The championship will take place over two days, where the first day will consist of two semifinals. The top-seeded team will face the fourth seed, while the second seed will face the third seed. The following day, the two semifinal winners will face off for the 2019 AUS championship title. 

 

The host of the Subway AUS Women's Volleyball Championship is determined on a rotational basis, however the host must finish in the top four in that particular season. If the host does not finish in the top four, the next team in the rotation (who has finished within the top four) will become that season's championship host. The team which did not qualify will become the host for the following year.  

 

The rotation is as follows: 2018-19: Moncton, 2019-20: Dalhousie, 2020-21: UNB and 2021-22: Acadia.

 

The AUS champion will advance to this year's U SPORTS championship which will be hosted March 15-17 by the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alta.  

 

 

Please visit http://www.atlanticuniversitysport.com/championships/index to view the complete 2018-19 AUS championship schedule.

 

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For more information, please visit www.atlanticuniversitysport.com or contact:

 

Jessica Burns
Communications and Marketing Manager
Atlantic University Sport
O: 902-425-4235
M: 902-478-7057
E: jburns@atlanticuniversitysport.com