MONTREAL – Marie-Alex Belanger of Joliette, Que., scored a game-high 23 points as the No.10-ranked Montreal Carabins swooped around the mountain that divides two of the nation's top women's volleyball programs and defeated No.5-ranked McGill 3-2 at Love Competition Hall, Friday. The set scores were 25-19, 19-25, 25-20, 17-25 and 15-7.
 
McGill (10-3), which swept all three interlocking games against Atlantic teams last weekend, has now lost three straight confrontations to Quebec opponents and dropped two points behind the Carabins, who took over sole possession of first place in the RSEQ conference with an 11-3 record. They now have a 3-1 advantage in head-to-head meetings with McGill, including a split in two preseason games.
 
Belanger, a 6-foot-1 junior, registered a game-high 19 kills to go along with three service aces and one stuff block. She also collected 11 digs.

The Carabins had a 46-39 edge in kills, a 60-49 advantage in digs and a 17-7 margin in blocks. Playing wihout injured starting power-hitter Emilie Matte de Grasse, McGill struggled offensively, producing a .063 hitting percentage compared to Montreal's .119.

Myriam Robitaille, a six-foot sophmore from Terrebonne, Que., led the McGill attack with 15 points, on seven kills, five stuff blocks and three aces. Teammate Catherine Amyot, a senior from Montreal, added 12.5 points, collecting a team-high nine kills, along with three aces and an assisted block, to go along with nine digs.

Marjolaine Ste-Marie of St. Lambert, Que., contributed a game-high 18 digs, a number of them of the spectacular nature. She is now ranked sixth among CIS leaders with an average of 4.44 digs per set. Fifth-year setter Yasmeen Dawoodjee had 28 assists and is now ranked third among CIS leaders with an average of 9.68 per game.
 
McGill, which owns a stellar 22-5 record overall after a busy schedule over the fall semester, will now have a six-week break for exams and holidays. The Martlets will resume their schedule on Jan. 16 at home against Laval. 

MARTLET MURMURS: The Martlets are ranked third among all CIS teams in digs per set (17.62), fourth in aces  (2.38), seventh in kills (12.06), eighth in points (16.4), 14th in assists (10.42) and 18th in blocks (1.98)... With nine games remaining in their RSEQ schedule, the McGill women are six wins shy of their best-ever win total in regular-season play, when they posted a 16-5 record in 2005-06 and a 16-9 mark in 2006-07.


FOR MORE INFO CONTACT:
Ryne Bondy or Earl Zukerman
McGill Sports Info Office
514-398-7012