MONTREAL --
Marie-Alex Bélanger of Joliette, Que., scored 22 points as ninth-ranked Montreal overcame a two-set deficit and topped visiting McGill 3-2 in the final RSEQ women's volleyball game of the semester, at Centre CEPSUM on Friday. The set scores were 25-20, 26-24, 11-25, 21-25 and 11-15.
It was the final game of the semester for both teams and a costly lesson for the Martlets (4-6), who would've been tied for second place in the six-team Quebec conference, two points shy of the division-leading Carabins (7-3). Instead, they slipped all the way to fifth place, six points back of the Carabins.
The Carabins victory avenged a 3-0 sweep by the Martlets in their previous meeting on Oct. 29, which had put to rest an eight-game UdeM win-streak. Montreal had a huge 51-24 advantage in kills, a 16-12 edge in service aces, a 61-49 margin in digs and a 15-11 difference in blocks.
"Montreal played with good momentum at the beginning of the third set," said McGill head coach
Rachele Beliveau of the Carabins' comeback. "We were playing with a lot of confidence but Montreal didn't play well in the first two sets. Then we started to make a few mistakes... just hesitating too much. We were back (on our heels) whereas in the first two sets, we just played without hesitation.
"We only had one bad set, which was the third one. The fourth and fifth were good battles."
Bélanger tallied her points on the strength of 17 kills, two services aces and three stuff blocks. She was also credited with nine digs. Teammate
Stéphanie Lojen had a game-high 19 digs in the contest.
Physical education freshman
Claire Vercheval of Ste. Julie, Que., led the Martlets with a dozen kills, two aces and 1.5 blocks for 15.5 points, in addition to seven digs.
"I think she's doing a great job overall in the power-hitter position," said Beliveau of the 6-foot-2 rookie. "It's a role where you have to take risks trying to kill the ball and not just keep it in play all the time."
Rowan Fletcher, a freshman from Montreal, followed with 9.5 points, courtesy of seven kills, an ace and 1.5 blocks. She also led the team with 13 digs. Junior
Myriam Robitaille of Terrebonne, Que., collected eight points on two kills, an ace and five blocks, while
Erika Cournoyer, a senior from Longueuil, Que., served up four aces, had one kill and a block, for six points.
McGill, which owns a 13-10 record overall after an arduous semester, now gets a six-week break for exams and holidays before resuming play at the Royal Military College invitational tournament, Jan. 5-6, where they are slated to meet Queen's, RMC, Ryerson, and McMaster. The Martlets will resume league playin Sherbrooke (5-5) on Jan. 13.
| 2016-17 RSEQ Women's Volleyball Standings (updated) • Classement de la saison régulière du RSEQ |
|
|
| 1 |
Montréal |
10 |
7 |
3 |
24 |
12 |
844 |
724 |
0.700 |
0.0 |
14 |
| 2 |
Laval |
8 |
5 |
3 |
16 |
12 |
621 |
552 |
0.625 |
1.0 |
10 |
| 3 |
Sherbrooke |
10 |
5 |
5 |
20 |
20 |
846 |
867 |
0.500 |
2.0 |
10 |
| 4 |
Ottawa |
8 |
4 |
4 |
14 |
17 |
656 |
707 |
0.500 |
2.0 |
8 |
| 5 |
McGill |
10 |
4 |
6 |
20 |
23 |
893 |
939 |
0.400 |
3.0 |
8 |
| 6 |
UQAM |
10 |
3 |
7 |
13 |
23 |
743 |
814 |
0.300 |
4.0 |
6 |
