MONTREAL -- Sophomore Myriam Robitaille and senior Catherine Amyot tallied 16 points apiece as the No.8-ranked McGill women's volleyball team rallied from a 2-1 deficit to conquer visiting Laval 3-2 in a key RSEQ conference matchup at Love Competition Hall, Saturday. Set scores for the two-hour, 16-minute marathon were 25-22, 18-25, 21-25, 28-26 and 15-11.

It marked the team's second straight victory over Laval since the Rouge et Or had swept McGill last February, knocking the Martlets out of a playoff berth.

Robitaille, a six-foot middle blocker from Terrebonne, Que., collected 14 kills, a pair of blocks and nine digs, while Amyot, a 5-foot-10 power-hitter from Ottawa, had 13 kills, two aces and one block.

"We started off very shaky by playing at a slower pace than usual," said McGill head coach Rachele Beliveau. "Sometimes we start really fast but finish slow. Today it was the opposite for some reason. It was a big win for us, we fought hard and it shows that we can come back. We have to be very patient and find our way back in situations like that. Hopefully this experience should carry over when we find ourselves in tough situations."

Also contributing to a good team victory was Marie-Eve Dorion (23 digs, 8 kills, 1 ace, 0.5 blocks, 2.15 passing ratio), Marjolaine Ste-Marie (28 digs) and setter Yasmeen Dawoodjee (42 assists, five aces, two kills, 11 digs, 0.5 blocks).

Top scorer for the Rouge et Or was Alice Cloutier with a game-high 21 points, on the strength of 18 kills, two aces and a block. She also had 10 digs.

There wasn't much to choose between these two evenly-matched clubs and the only major difference was in digs, where McGill had a 104-77 advantage. Laval held a 60-52 margin in kills. Both sides had 11 service aces, while McGill posted seven stuff blocks compared to 5.5 by the Rouge et Or.

The victory allowed the Martlets to remain second in the five-team RSEQ conference with an 11-3 record, sandwiched division-leading Montreal  (12-3) and third-place Sherbrooke (10-5). McGill, which has a stellar 26-7 record overall, plays at Sherbrooke on Saturday at 1 p.m. The Martlets took the first two meetings by identical 3-1 scores. The teams also crossed twice in exhibition play at a Florida tournament after Christmas, with McGill winning the preliminary round 3-0 and Sherbrooke bouncing back for a 3-2 wvictory in the tournry final.

Laval, the perennial champions, now sit fourth in the league with a 7-8 record and will host Sherbrooke on Jan. 22.

CIS LINK TO TEAM STATS

CIS LINK TO STANDINGS

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
@EarlZukerman (twitter)
 
SEE COMPLETE McGILL VARSITY SCHEDULE ONLINE AT:
www.mcgillathletics.ca/calendar.aspx