MONTREAL --
Claire Vercheval registered 19 points and
Erika Cournoyer added 18.5, as No.10 McGill defeated ninth-ranked Laval 3-2 to close out the first semester on a high note in RSEQ women's volleyball, Sunday, at Love Competition Hall. The set scores for the two-hour and three-minute marathon were 25-21, 22-25, 25-23, 25-27 and 15-10. It marked the fifth straight regular season win over their provincial rivals, including three last year.
At the halfway point of the season, the Martlets own a stellar 8-2 record and now share first place in the Quebec conference with Montreal (8-1) in addition to a four-point lead over the third-place Rouge et Or (6-3), though both rivals have a game in hand.
"I'm really pleased with how we performed under pressure and with (our depth) while dealing with a lot of minor injuries," said McGill head coach
Rachele Beliveau, whose team will take advantage of the timely month-long exam and holiday break to heal up. "Everybody came up big to finish the last two matches of the semester.
"We didn't make many mistakes. We bumped and hit well, and had only a 10 per cent error rate. Against a team like Laval that has a solid defence, to not have more mistakes than that is pretty good."
Vercheval, a 6-foot-2 power hitter from Ste. Julie, Que., had 16 kills and three service aces, and also chipped in seven digs with an assist.
Erika Cournoyer, a six-foot middle-blocker from Longueuil, Que., stepped up for injured team captain
Myriam Robitaille (who was missing her second consecutive game with an undisclosed ailment) and collected 15 kills, an ace, 2.5 stuff blocks, a pair of digs and two assists.
Rowan Fletcher, a sophomore right-side hitter from Montreal, contributed 16 points on the strength of a dozen kills, two aces, one stuff block and two assisted blocks. The political science sophomore also managed a dozen digs and four assists.
"Rowan and Erika played very well, which gave us more versatility at the net," praised Beliveau. "It allowed us to play a more open style. Our opponents usually prepare their game-plan against Vercheval and try to make things tough for her. But if our other hitters perform the way they did this weekend, it's just going to open the game for Vercheval even more.
"It was probably Erika's best combined two-game weekend (since she joined the team in 2013). We saw good leadership from her as a fifth-year senior who stepped up and helped the team. Rowan has been hitting well offensively and has been very productive but she also stabilizes our backline. She provides us with solid defence, good serve reception, and efficient blocking, so she stabilizes the team's performance."
Emilie Matte de Grasse of Montreal rounded out the team's four double-digit scorers with 12.5 points. The 5-foot-10 power-hitter had nine kills, three aces and an assisted block, along with eight digs and four assists. Libero
Marjolaine Ste-Marie of St. Lambert, Que., recorded a game-high 27 digs. Setters
Thara Dawoodjee of Ottawa and
Catherine Duchaine were credited with 25 and 18 assists, respectively.
Alice Cloutier and
Maud Chapleau led the Rouge et Or with 18 points apiece.
The Martlets held a 73-67 margin in digs and an 8-7 edge in blocks. Laval had a 61-60 advantage in kills and a 12-10 difference in service aces.
The Rouge et Or (6-3) will close out their semester on Dec. 1 when they host Sherbrooke (2-7)
McGill is off until Dec. 27 when they travel to Kelowna and Langley, B.C., for a week of training and exhibitions against Canada West teams.The schedule of games is not yet finalized but will be posted on the McGill Athletics website when available. The Martlets resume league play against the No.1-ranked Montreal Carabins on Jan. 12 at Love Competition Hall.
LINK TO BOXSCORE
| 2017-18 RSEQ Women's Volleyball Standings • Classement de la saison régulière du RSEQ |
|
|
| 1 |
Montréal |
9 |
8 |
1 |
24 |
8 |
772 |
615 |
0.889 |
0.0 |
16 |
| 2 |
McGill |
10 |
8 |
2 |
25 |
12 |
847 |
781 |
0.800 |
0.5 |
16 |
| 3 |
Laval |
9 |
6 |
3 |
22 |
12 |
769 |
726 |
0.667 |
2.0 |
12 |
| 4 |
Ottawa |
9 |
3 |
6 |
14 |
24 |
797 |
828 |
0.333 |
5.0 |
6 |
| 5 |
Sherbrooke |
9 |
2 |
7 |
12 |
24 |
762 |
829 |
0.222 |
6.0 |
4 |
| 6 |
UQAM |
10 |
1 |
9 |
12 |
29 |
792 |
960 |
0.100 |
7.5 |
2 |
