QUEBEC CITY -- Alice Cloutier tallied 23.5 points as Laval came back from a 2-0 deficit to edge McGill 3-2 in Game 1 of the RSEQ women's volleyball semifinals, Friday, at Centre PEPS. The set scores for the two-hour, six-minute affair were 14-25, 22-25, 25-16, 25-22 and 17-15.

The Martlets now face a must-win scenario on Saturday (Feb. 25) at 7 p.m. at Love Competition Hall. If a rubber match is needed, it will take place in the provincial capital on Sunday at 3 p.m.

"We missed some opportunities but at the same time, it wasn't a bad game," said McGill head coach Rachele Beliveau. "It was a good, well-fought contest. (Tight losses like this are) just part of the sport, but there's still more to come."

McGill had a 14-12 advantage with a chance to seal the deal in the final set, but the Rouge et Or roared back to win 17-15.

"In the first two sets we played really well and Laval couldn't find any momentum, so we had lots of confidence," Beliveau explained. "Then Laval started playing better in the third set. In the fourth we had a really good start and it could've gone either way. In the fifth we had one match-point but couldn't capitalize, and that one could've gone either way as well."

Cloutier earned her points on the strength of 18 kills, three service aces, two stuff blocks and one assisted block, and also managed 11 digs.

The Martlets had four players reach double figures in scoring, led by Claire Vercheval, a freshman power-hitter from Ste. Julie, Que., who scored 17 points thanks to 16 kills and an ace. She also had 13 digs on defence. Teammate Erika Cournoyer of Longueuil, Que., followed with a dozen points, courtesy of seven kills, one stuff block and eight assisted blocks. She was also credited with five digs and an assist. Myriam Robitaille and Emilie Matte de Grasse followed with 10 points apiece. Robitaille, from Terrebonne, Que., had six kills, two aces four assisted blocks, six digs and an assist. Matte de Grasse, from Montreal, had eight kills, a pair of aces, three digs and an assist.

Rookies Elisabeth Perrault of Laval, Que., and Rowan Fletcher of Montreal were inserted into the lineup after McGill took a 2-0 lead. Each earned nine points in three sets played. Perrault recorded five kills, two aces, four assisted blocks, a pair of digs and an assist. Fletcher had seven kills, an ace, two blocks, a pair of assists and eight digs. Setter Thara Dawoodjee of Ottawa racked up a game-high 39 assists and also contributed 19 digs and 4.5 points.

McGill also played a strong defensive game with an 89-77 advantage in digs and 14-11 difference in blocks, while the Rouge et Or held a 57-52 margin in kills and a 10-8 edge in service aces. Laval scored a significant portion of points on kills and aces that deflected off the hands of McGill defenders.

"Our offence played really well," noted Beliveau. "Offensively we had lots of kills and not many mistakes. It's just that Laval was able to utilize our hands too much on our blocking in order to score the ball. Towards the end they were going one-to-one and we couldn't really take that ball, but that wasn't the reason for the loss. If we had just been able to execute the simple plays, like a really good ball close to the net hit hard, then the game could've turned around."

The winner of the series will move on to face the victor of the other semifinal between Montreal and Sherbrooke -- the Carabins lead that series 1-0 with a 3-1 victory -- in the conference final for a berth at U SPORTS Final Eight national championship in Toronto, March 17-19.