MONTREAL -- Marie-Alex Belanger scored 18.5 points, including 16 kills, as the fifth-ranked Montreal Carabins swept No.10 McGill 25-20, 25-23 and 25-17 in a hard-fought women's volleyball showdown for first place in the RSEQ conference at Love Competition Hall, Friday.

It was the Martlets annual "Dig for the Cure" fundraiser for breast cancer and the team wore pink uniforms instead of their standard red and white gear. Close to $1,000 was raised from donations were collected at the door as well as on each ticket sold and for every dig made in the contest, which featured 119 digs, including 68 by McGill.

Montreal had a 41-30 edge in kills and a 7-2 margin in service aces but put up a formidable fortress with 10.5 blocked shots compared to only three by the Martlets.

"Despite the loss, there were a lot of positives to take from our performance today. We played really well and showed good fight," said veteran McGill head coach Rachele Beliveau, who owns a 550-484-2 overall record since taking over the Martlets helm 25 years ago. "We were solid offensively and strong on the defensive side. It was probably our best game since returning from the holiday tournament in Florida and the Carabins had to play a very strong game to beat us today."

Erika Cournoyer, a third-year middle blocker from Longueuil, Que., led the home side with nine points, including seven kills, one ace and a pair of assisted blocks to go along with six digs. Sohomore Myriam Robitaille of Terrebonne, Que., was next with six points, followed by sophomore Emilie Matte de Grasse of Montreal, senior Catherine Amyot of Ottawa and Marie-Eve Dorion , a junior from St. Hubert, Que., who each tallied five points.

Fifth-year setter Yasmeen Dawoodjee, a native of Ottawa who led the Martlets with 21 assists, collected nine digs, and a pair of kills.

The division-leading Carabins improved to 14-3 and moved six points ahead of McGill, which dropped to third place with an 11-5 mark and a game in hand. Six contests remain before post-season play, including one more against the Carabins -- who have won all three regular season confrontations -- at the Centre CEPSUM on Jan. 29.

The Martlets get a day off to recover before heading to Quebec City on Sunday for a 1 p.m. matinee against fourth-place Laval (7-9).
 

Pos	RSEQ STANDINGS	GP	W	L	SW	SL	PF	PA	PCTG.	GBL	PTS
1	Montréal	17	14	3	45	16	1444	1183	0.824	0.0	28
2	Sherbrooke	17	12	5	38	25	1418	1345	0.706	2.0	24
3	McGill	16	11	5	40	22	1433	1258	0.688	2.5	22
4	Laval	16	7	9	31	33	1402	1403	0.438	6.5	14
5	UQAM	16	4	12	19	41	1228	1364	0.250	9.5	8

SOURCE:
 
Earl Zukerman
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Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
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