Box Score
MONTREAL -- Ashley Norfleet, a sophomore from Brossard, Que., racked up a game-high 20.5 points as the McGill Martlets rallied to outlast Sherbrooke 3-2 in a key women's volleyball confrontation at Love Competition Hall, Sunday.  The Martlets overcame an 11-6 deficit in the final set to win 25-10, 22-25, 25-22, 23-25 and 15-13 in a marathon match-up that lasted two hours and 14 minutes.

The result improved McGill's record to 9-4, four points ahead of last-place Sherbrooke (7-8) in the topsy-turvy, four-team RSEQ conference standings. Only the top three qualify for post-season play and with six dates remaining on their schedule, McGill's magic number to clinch a playoff berth is now two wins.

Norfleet, a 5-foot-11 power-hitter, had 19 kills, once ace and an assisted block on offence. The second-year education major added 17 digs on defence.

"We started very strong and played with confidence in the first set," said Rachele Beliveau, who improved her lifetime record to 478-431-2 overall in 22 seasons as head coach at McGill. "But for some reason, we let them back in during the second set by sitting back and waiting, which resulted in a momentum swing. In the end, we made the necessary adjustments, which forced a number of Sherbrooke errors and that proved to be the difference."

The Vert & Or committed 38 errors on offence, compared to only 18 by McGill. The Martlets also had a 61-47 edge in kills, a 6-4 margin in service aces and an impressive 151-98 advantage in digs.

Other Martlets to reach double figures in scoring were Genevieve Plante (15.5 points) of Montreal, Marie-Christine Lapointe (14) of St. Jean sur Richelieu and Marie-Pier Durivage (12.5) of St. Nicolas, Que.

Plante, a senior power-hitter, had 15 kills, 17 digs, two aces and an assisted block. Lapointe, a six-foot senior, registered 11 kills, a game-high 37 digs and one stuff block. Durivage, a six-foot middle blocker and second-year transfer from Laval, came off the bench and was credited with eight kills, five digs and was in on six blocks, three of them solo.

"Durivage was one of those players who really benefitted from getting more playing time during our recent excursion to Santo Domingo over the holidays," said Beliveau. "The trip gave us an opportunity to give all of our players equal playing time, which was great for team esprit, confidence, fitness and working on skill levels."

Teammate Yasmeen Dawoodjee, a third-year setter from Ottawa, led all players with 50 assists.

The top scorers for Sherbrooke were Roxane Hasseni (15.5 pts), Dominique Drouin (12.5) and Corinne Santerre (10). Sherbrooke team captain Kim Robitaiile was red carded by the referee, which resulted in a point for McGill. Denis Fontaine, in his fourth season as head coach of the Vert & Or program, also received two yellow warnings for arguing with the officials.

McGill's stretch run won't be a walk in the park, with three games remaining against Montreal and two versus the Rouge et Or before closing out the regular-season against Sherbrooke.

Next weekend, McGill will host the No.2-ranked and division-leading Carabins (11-3) on Jan. 17 before heading to Quebec City on Jan. 18 to play ninth-ranked Laval, which is tied with Montreal atop the standings with an 11-3 record.