CORNWALL, Ont. - The No. 10-ranked Ottawa Gee-Gees defeated McGill 3-1 in women's volleyball exhibition play in a contest designed to introduce the merits of the university game at École secondaire publique l'héritage in Cornwall, Wednesday.

It was the third straight loss to Ottawa this season for the Martlets, who had an abridged pre-game warm-up and were felled by set scores of 26-28, 16-25, 25-20 and 16-25.

A cold arctic front, which brought blowing snow and -23 degree temperatures, caused havoc to Montreal traffic and the McGill team bus, which left on time but needed three hours to make what would normally be a 60-minute jaunt to Cornwall. As a result, they arrived at 6:30 p.m. for a match which was originally slated for a 6 p.m. tip-off, and the game was delayed an hour.

"We were rushed but started well and had some really good rallies against the Gee-Gees," said McGill head coach Rachele Beliveau. "But we continued our pattern of being somewhat inconsistent. We seem to score three or four points, then give up three or four. So if we can figure out how to maintain momentum when things are going well, that will make a big difference in our success."

Senior Yasmeen Dawoodjee, a 5-foot-8 setter from Ottawa, paced the Martlets with 29 assists, a team-high 20 digs and one ace. Teammate Ashley Norfleet, a third-year power-hitter from Brossard, Que., posted 10 kills, 18 digs and an ace, while Catherine Amyot, a junior from Ottawa, had a dozen kills, a pair of aces, 14 digs, one stuff block and passing ratio of 2.0 out of 3.

The Martlets are now 17-13 overall, including a 9-4 third-place record in the RSEQ standings. They will scrimmage this weekend and return to regular season play on Jan. 16 with a crucial match-up at Sherbrooke, which also sports a 9-4 record. McGill has swept all three confrontations with the Vert & Or this season by identical 3-1 scores, including one preseason rendezvous.

MARTLET MURMURS: There was good news and bad news on the injury front... Freshmen Emilie Matte de Grasse and Myriam Robitaille both returned to action, although Robitaille saw limited duty... However, Marie-Christine Lapointe, a fifth-year senior from St. Jean, Que., suffered what appeared to be an ankle sprain and is expected to be out of the lineup for about two weeks.


SOURCE:

Earl Zukerman
Communications Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
514-398-7012 (Tel.)
m.athletics.mcgill.ca (mobile website)
www.mcgill athletics.ca
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca