QUEBEC CITY -- Claire Vercheval of Ste. Julie, Que., scored 24.5 points as 10th-ranked McGill defeated No.7 Laval 3-2 in RSEQ women's volleyball at Centre PEPS on Friday. Set scores in the two-hour, three-minute affair were 22-25, 25-21, 21-25, 25-16 and 15-8.

"It wasn't easy but we made it through," said Martlets head coach Rachele Beliveau. "We played a lot of players and tried different line-ups (during the five sets) and towards the end, we started to get our momentum back with a line-up that was working better together. Confidence came with that and then we played better each set.

"We had a game plan but I think one of our strengths is to be able to adjust if it doesn't work. What we had planned to do didn't work so we went with some changes. I actually rotated the line-up three times in this match and the only time I didn't rotate -- because it was working well -- was between the fourth and the fifth sets."

Vercheval, a 6-foot-1 sophomore power hitter, earned her points with 20 kills, four service aces and an assisted block,. She also had nine digs.

Team captain Myriam Robitaille of Terrebonne, Que., followed with 15.5 points, on the strength of 10 kills, three aces, one stuff block and a trio of assisted blocks. The six-foot middle-blocker also contributed six digs and an assisted block. Libero Marjolaine Ste-Marie of St. Lambert, Que., had a game-high 27 digs and a 2.18 serve reception percentage.

"Myriam served (tremendously) and always seemed to be putting Laval in trouble," Beliveau noted. "She played really well tonight, along with Claire and Marjolaine."

Erika Cournoyer of Longueuil, Que., registered 11.5 points, courtesy of nine kills and five assisted blocks. She also had four digs. Rowan Fletcher of Montreal tallied 10.5 points with six kills, three aces and three assisted blocks.

Setters Catherine Duchaine of Montreal and Thara Dawoodjee of Ottawa both saw significant court time. Duchaine had 28 assists while Dawoodjee recorded 23 assists and four points.

Jade Fortin paced the Rouge et Or with 18.5 points.

The Martlets had a 59-51 advantage in kills, a 15-5 margin in service aces and a 10-9 edge in blocks, while Laval had a 91-80 difference in digs.

The Rouge et Or (0-2) visit UQAM (1-1) on Saturday (Oct. 28). McGill (2-0) next hosts No.3-ranked Montreal (2-0) on Friday, Nov. 3 at 7 p.m. at Love Competition Hall.