HAMILTON, Ont. (November 26, 2009) - Shannel Rajan of Calgary and Eric Jones of Hamilton, Ont., were both named as OUA First Team All-Stars Thursday afternoon by the OUA.

Rajan, a fourth-year veteran, had a stellar season for the Gaels, leading the team in scoring with 18 goals. This is her first time being named a first team all-star.

Jones makes his third first-team all-star appearance, giving him a total of four all-star nods. The fourth-year veteran also led the Gaels in regular season scoring with 18 goals.

Looking ahead to the OUA Championship this weekend, the Queen's women will face the top-ranked Carleton Ravens in the first semifinal on Saturday at the Ivor Wynne Centre Pool.

Led by Kaitlyn Sennema (Ottawa) and Sarah McIlveen (Scarborough, Ont.), with 20 and 19 goals respectively, the Ravens completed their third straight first-place finish this season but it was their first going undefeated.

When Queen's and Carleton last faced each other on Nov. 7, it was Kailey Flower (Hamilton, Ont.) that led the scoring for the Ravens with three goals, while Sydney Ferguson (Etobicoke, Ont.), Michelle Langstaff (Ottawa) and Katharine Stewart (Guelph, Ont.) did their part by netting two apiece in the Ravens 15-6 victory.

Queen's has not had any success against Carleton, having lost both matches to the Ravens, but they're not without their own offensive weapon, and she could do some real damage to Carleton's championship chances.

In that same Nov. 7 match, Rajan netted three goals of her own and finished the season not far behind McIlveen with 18 goals. Also making herself known in the OUA scoring race was Queen's teammate Carla Henderson (Nanaimo, B.C.), cracking the OUA top 10 with a dozen goals.

So despite their polar-opposite finishes this season, the Gaels could prove to be a tough competitor for the Ravens this weekend, especially with a championship on the line.

2009 OUA WATER POLO AWARD WINNERS AND ALL-STARS

Men's Coach of the Year – Andras Szeri (Carleton)
Women's Coach of the Year – Steve Baird (Carleton)

MEN'S FIRST-TEAM ALL-STARS
Jordan Duffield (Puslinch, Ont.) – York
Eric Jones (Hamilton, Ont.) – Queen's
Graeme Myers (Toronto) – Toronto
Jack Park (Waterdown, Ont.) – McMaster
Trevor Robinson – Goalie (Scarborough, Ont.) – Toronto
Luke Spooner (Auckland) - Toronto
Dejan Suletic (Gatineau, Que.) – Carleton

MEN'S SECOND-TEAM ALL-STARS
Sam Cardarelli (Rockland, Ont.) – Carleton
Andrew Chorniy – Goalie (Lviv, Ukraine) – Toronto
Alan Chung (Ajax, Ont.) – Toronto
Greg Hoegy (Kitchener, Ont.) – Western
Boris Misljencevic (Ottawa) – Carleton
Graham Park (Waterdown, Ont.) – McMaster
Straun Wefers (Toronto) – York

WOMEN'S FIRST-TEAM ALL-STARS
Rachel Baxter (Ottawa) – Carleton
Nicole Brown (Toronto) – Toronto
Evelyn Marshall – Goalie (Ottawa) – Carleton
Sarah McIlveen (Scarborough, Ont.) – Carleton
Shannel Rajan (Calgary) – Queen's
Kaity Sennema (Ottawa) – Carleton
Brittany Sinclair (Scarborough, Ont.) – Toronto

WOMEN'S SECOND-TEAM ALL-STARS
Nadine Asmis (Etobicoke, Ont.) – McMaster
Carleigh Carter (Ottawa) – McMaster
Ann Marie Child – Goalie (Hamilton, Ont.) – McMaster
Sarah Duffield (Puslinch, Ont.) – York
Sydney Ferguson (Etobicoke, Ont.) – Carleton
Casey Pottier (Kitchener, Ont.) – Toronto
Laura Shaw (Coquitlam, B.C.) – Toronto 

- with files from the OUA