MONTREAL -- Myriam Robitaille of Terrebonne, Que., tallied 13.5 points as McGill swept the Citadins 25-19, 25-17 and 25-19 in RSEQ women's volleyball, Friday, at the Centre Sportif UQAM.

The victory improved the Martlets' record to 6-2 in eight overall meetings with the Citadins, who finished sixth in the division with a 6-14 record. With just one game remaining for McGill in regular season play, the result also secured the upper hand for the Martlets, moving them into sole possession of second-place as the battle for the three final playoff berths remains a tight four-team contest. Should two schools finish even in the standings McGill (10-9) holds the tie-breaker against Ottawa (9-9) and Laval (9-9), but not against Sherbrooke (9-10). In a three-way tie, they may have to pull out an old-fashioned slide-rule to solve the playoff scenarios.

"We showed good control and patience," said Martlets head coach Rachele Beliveau who improved her lifetime record to 579-509-2 overall in her 26 seasons behind the bench at McGill. "The beginnings of the sets were quite equal until we got to 15 points, but once we got to 15 things were going well to close the games."

Robitaille, a six-foot middle blocker, earned her points on the strength of eight kills, an ace, three solo stuff blocks and three assisted blocks. The French language and literature junior also had two digs and an assist.

Freshman Elisabeth Perrault of Laval, Que., followed with 12.5 points, courtesy of 10 kills, a pair of aces and a block, along with three digs. Junior Emilie Matte De Grasse of Montreal also reached double digits, posting 10 points with eight kills, an ace and a block, as well as a team-high dozen digs. Senior Erika Cournoyer of Longueuil, Que., contributed 8.5 points thanks to seven kills and two blocks.

Third-year setter Thara Dawoodjee of ttawa registered a dozen assists, 10 digs and 1.5 blocks before given the rest of the night off, so rest up for Saturday's key game against the Carabins.She gave way to rookie setter Catherine Duchaine of Montreal, who made her first multi-set appearance and collected 19 assists. She also earned her first career points (2.5) and had four digs in two sets played.

The  Martlets led 37-32 in kills, 6-1 in service aces, 56-40 in digs and 10-1 in blocks.

"We passed very well too, so that really helped," noted Beliveau. "It was a good team performance."

Senior Marie-Eve Dorion of St. Hubert, Que., achieved a perfect 3.0 passing ratio in the match. Teammate Ariane Lavoie-Boutin, a sophomore from La Prairie, Que., was solid in a serve-receiving role and passed for 2.73, while rookie Claire Vercheval of Ste. Julie, Que., the team's leading scorer, was held to a season-low four points but recorded a 2.47 passing ratio.

"Claire didn't have as many points today (as she usually does), but that was okay," said Beliveau. "Sometimes the other team's defensive play is based on (neutralizing) her, but she still performed the other parts of the game really well."

Emilie Germain-Russel led UQAM with 11 points, all from kills.

McGill closes the season by hosting No.7-ranked Montreal (13-5), the RSEQ division leaders,  on Saturday (Feb. 18) at 7 p.m. at Love Competition Hall, with home-court advantage in post-season play still on the line.

"We'll try to prepare for Saturday and play hard to hopefully work our way to a second-place finish, instead of waiting on the results of other teams to see what happens," Beliveau offered.

The last-place Citadins (6-14) will not advance to the postseason and willbe joined by one more team on the outside, looking in.

 

2016-17 RSEQ Women's Volleyball Standings  (updated after Feb. 17 games) • Classement de la saison régulière

Pos	Équipe	MJ	V	D	SG	SP	PP	PC	MOY	Diff.	PTS
1	Montréal	18	13	5	43	22	1527	1323	0.722	0.0	26
2	McGill	19	10	9	40	38	1681	1706	0.526	3.5	20
3	Laval	18	9	9	35	33	1490	1428	0.500	4.0	18
4	Ottawa	18	9	9	34	38	1561	1613	0.500	4.0	18
5	Sherbrooke	19	9	10	37	36	1557	1577	0.474	4.5	18
6	UQAM	20	6	14	26	48	1536	1705	0.300	8.0	12

REMAINING RSEQ SCHEDULE:

F57	Sam	2017-02-18	18:00	Ottawa		Laval		PEPS	Web
F58	Sam	2017-02-18	19:00	Montréal		McGill		McGill U.	Web
F59	Dim	2017-02-19	13:00	Sherbrooke		Montréal		CEPSUM
F60	Dim	2017-02-19	14:00	Ottawa		Laval		PEPS	Web