MONTREAL -- Myriam Robitaille of Terrebonne, Que., and Catherine Amyot of Montreal each tallied 13.5 points as ninth-ranked McGill defeated the UQAM Citadins 3-1 in RSEQ women's volleyball at the Centre Sportif UQAM on Friday. The set scores were 25-18, 14-25, 25-15 and 25-18.

McGill, which was upset 3-2 by UQAM in their previous meeting on Nov. 15, officially eliminated the fifth-place Citadins from playoff contention.

"We played good defence and had really good passing," said Martlets head coach Rachele Beliveau. "We had to play a strong game... UQAM was ready to go. We're still preparing for what we want to do (in the playoffs)."

With just two regular-season contests remaining on the schedule, second-place McGill (14-6) is in a battle with third-place Sherbrooke (13-7) for home-court advantage in the upcoming RSEQ semifinals. The Martlets hold the tiebreaker should the teams finish tied in points. The division-leading Montreal Carabins have secured the top spot in the conference with a 17-3 record.

Robitaille, a second-year middle-blocker, had nine kills, three service aces and a trio of assisted stuff-blocks, along with four digs. Amyot, an engineering senior, earned her points on the strength of a dozen kills, an ace and one block. She added 12 digs and recorded a team-high 2.17 passing ratio (out of 3.0).

"What I liked today was that when things got tough, we didn't panic," added Beliveau. "We had a few bad sequences and UQAM really took advantage of the opportunity to win the second set. But the girls were ready to come back. They completely forgot about the bad set and played hard for the next game and this is what we have to do to be successful."

Emilie Matte de Grasse, a sophomore power-hitter from Montreal, tallied 12 points with 10 kills and a pair of aces in addition to 15 digs. Fifth-year setter Yasmeen Dawoodjee of Ottawa racked up 39 assists and had a half-dozen digs in addition to one kill, an ace and three blocks. Erika Cournoyer, a 5-foot-10 middle-blocker from Longueuil, Que., recorded 9.5 points with seven kills, an ace, and two blocks. She added a pair of digs and an assisted block. Third-year science student Marjolaine Ste-Marie of St. Lambert, Que., registered a team-high 18 digs and had a passing ratio of 2.02.

Emilie Germain-Russel of Rouyn-Noranda, Que., was the top point-getter for the Citadins, scoring 16 on the strength of 15 kills and two blocks, while teammate Josyanne Grenier of Terrebonne, Que., collected a game-high 20 digs.

McGill had a 48-39 edge in kills, a 63-62 advantage in digs, an 8-7 margin in service aces and a 7-5 difference in stuff blocks.

The Martlets travel to Quebec City on Saturday (Feb. 6) to face fourth-place Laval (8-12) at 7 p.m. A McGill victory will clinch second place. UQAM, which dropped to 5-15, hosts Sherbrooke on Feb. 12.

 

Pos	Classement RSEQ Standings	MJ/GP	V/W	D/L	SG/SW	SP/SL	PP/PF	PC/PA	MOY/WIN%	Diff./GBL	PTS
1	Montréal	20	17	3	54	18	1699	1400	0.850	0.0	34
2	McGill	20	14	6	49	26	1728	1515	0.700	3.0	28
3	Sherbrooke	20	13	7	43	31	1644	1584	0.650	4.0	26
4	Laval	20	8	12	36	43	1718	1738	0.400	9.0	16
5	UQAM	20	5	15	24	52	1547	1727	0.250	12.0	10

FOR FURTHER INFO CONTACT:
Kirsten Whelan or Earl Zukerman
McGill Sports Info Office
(514) 398-7012