SHERBROOKE, Que. -- Emilie Matte de Grasse of Montreal scored 14 points as ninth-ranked McGill defeated the No.10 Sherbrooke Vert & Or 3-2 at the Pavillon Univestrie on Saturday, to force a deciding game in the RSEQ women's volleyball semifinals. The set scores were 25-20, 25-23, 20-25, 13-25, and 15-12.

Sherbrooke upset McGill 3-0 in the series opener on Friday and Saturday's bounce-back performance forces a rubber match on Sunday (Feb. 21 at 2 pm) at McGill's Love Competition Hall. The victor will advance to both the conference finals and CIS championships.

Matte de Grasse, a physical education sophomore, tallied 13 kills and two stuff blocks, in addition to 15 digs.. 21,

"Today we played much better defence, fought harder and executed our game plan better than yesterday," explained Martlets head coach Rachele Beliveau of her team's resurgence. "The game plan was not different from yesterday, when we simply didn't apply it."

Trailing 2-0, Sherbrooke, supported by a boisterous home crowd of 300 strong, made a passionate comeback attempt, winning the third and fourth sets, but the Martlets maintained pressure throughout the final frame.

"We had good start and were very aggressive," said Beliveau. "The crowd tried to bring Sherbrooke back to life and they did, but we were good. We were able to fight, come back and win the most important points."

Myriam Robitaille of Terrebonne, Que., collected 13.5 points with 10 kills, an ace, and five stuff blocks. She added nine digs and two assists. Marie Eve Dorion of St. Hubert, Que., had 10 kills, two aces, an assisted block, two assists and 11 digs. Erika Cournoyer of Longueuil, Que., recorded nine kills, two blocks, an assist and one dig. Setter Yasmeen Dawoodjee of Ottawa was credited with a game-high 38 assists and 23 digs, in addition to an ace and a block.

Sarah-Jeanne Meunier-Bedard of St. Jean sur Richelieu, Que., led Sherbrooke with a game-high 20.5 points, on 14 kills, five aces, and three assisted blocks. She also had eight digs and four assists. Teammate Catherine Deslauriers of Lac Saguay, Que., led all players with 16 kills and earned 18.5 points.

McGill held an 86-83 advantage in digs, while the Vert et Or had a 49-48 edge in kills, a 10.5-8 difference in stuff blocks,and a 14-4 margin in service aces.


SOURCE:
Kirsten Whelan or Earl Zukerman
McGill Sports Info Office
(514) 398-7012