MONTREAL -- They came, they saw, they conquered but the Montreal Carabins may have to confront the pesky McGill Martlets yet again when both teams advance to the CIS Final Eight national championship in Brandon, Man., next weekend.

Marie-Alex Belanger, a 6-foot-1 junior power-hitter from Joliette, Que.,  scored a game-high 21.5 points as fifth-ranked Montreal defeated No.9 McGill 25-17, 25-21, 25-21 at Love Competition Hall, Saturday, to sweep the RSEQ best-of-three conference final 2-0. The Carabins won the opener 3-1 on Friday by set scores of 11-25, 25-22, 25-20 and 25-16.

Belanger, the league's player of the year, collected 15 kills, three stuff blocks and three assisted blocks. Teammate Vicky Savard, a fifth-year veteran from Ottawa, added 13 kills and an assisted block.

It was the seventh conference title in 10 years for the division-leading Carabins, who had a 43-30 edge in kills and a 13-6 margin in stuff blocks. McGill held advantages in both digs (50-43) and aces (7-3). The third set featured a marathon rally that had 36 players touch the ball before McGill finally scored to narrow the gap to 17-16.

GAME 2 VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE McGILL SPORTS NETWORK

"Honestly, we played a really good game today," said Rachele Beliveau, a former Olympian now in her 25th season as bench boss at McGill and named last week as the RSEQ conference coach of the year. "We fought until the end and Montreal had to play very well to beat us. Yesterday (in Game 1), they got off to a shaky start and we took advantage to win the first set. Today, we were there but just couldn't finish. I'm pleased with our performance, the way  we showed up and played such a tight game against a team as strong as the Carabins."

Sophomore power-hitter Emilie Matte de Grasse of Montreal paced the Martlets with 14 points in a losing cause, collecting 11 kills and three service aces. She also added nine digs.

Senior Catherine Amyot of Ottawa was the only other Martlet in double figures with 10.5 points, on nine kills and three assisted blocks, in addition to three digs. Teammate Marie-Eve Dorion, a junior from St. Hubert, Que., contributed seven kills, a pair of aces and an assisted block for 9.5 points. Marjolaine Ste-Marie was credited with a game-high 15 digs and McGill team captain Yasmeen Dawoodjee registered 25 assists and eight digs.

The Martlets, who dropped to 32-14 on the season, will need a three-game sweep at the Nationals in Brandon to tie the school record for most wins in a season, accomplished in 2006-07, when they posted a 35-19 record. In their previous trips to the CIS tourney, McGill finished third (2-1) at Hamilton in 2012 and sixth (1-2) at Edmonton in 1997.

The Carabins, as league champions, will go into the Final Eight tourney seeded among the top four teams, while the Martlets will be seeded in the bottom four, most likely sixth or seventh, with the host squad being listed as eighth. The official draw will be announced on Sunday evening and Martlets will depart on Tuesday for the event, which opens on Thursday.

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