MONTREAL -- Rookie
Claire Vercheval of Ste. Julie, Que., tallied 20.5 points as McGill defeated visiting Ottawa 3-1 in RSEQ women's volleyball, Sunday, at Love Competition Hall. The set scores were 25-20, 23-25, 25-22 and 25-16.
It was the third straight win and fifth in six games for the Martlets who split their season series with Ottawa at an even 2-2. McGill, which entered the weekend fifth in the six-team RSEQ conference, now find themselves in sole possession of second place with a 9-8 record. With three games remaining before playoffs, the Martlets could finish anywhere from second to fifth in the topsy-turvy Quebec league.
"Our young group is starting to understand the game and feel more comfortable," said McGill head coach
Rachele Beliveau, whose squad features seven freshmen, four sophomores, four juniors and three seniors. "There was a lot of stuff for them to learn in the fall. There's still a lot (to process), but at least they're a bit more comfortable with things like 'How do I work? What do I do and where do I need to go? What do I need to work on and improve?' so I think they understand the little picture."
The Martlets had a 54-41 advantage in kills, a 16-10 margin in service aces and a 50-32 difference in digs, while Ottawa had a 9-7 edge in stuff blocks.
"We served really well today," noted Beliveau, a former Canadian Olympic setter whose lifetime record improved to 578-508-2 overall in 26 seasons behind the McGill bench. "Ottawa is a team that plays very fast and is very aggressive at the net, so we tried to serve tough balls to keep them away from the net, which worked pretty well."
Vercheval, a 6-foot-2 power hitter, had 16 kills, three service aces and three assisted blocks. She also chipped in defensively with five digs.
"Claire had a very good weekend," said Beliveau of her top recruit, a physical education freshman who has scored 58.5 points during McGill's three-game win streak.. "She's hitting well and making fewer mistakes. She's keeping the ball in play and even scoring on balls that she used to struggle with."
Three other McGill players also reached double-digits in scoring.
"Offensively it's (beneficial) because we don't rely on only one hitter," explained Beliveau. "We have some really good hitters and that allows us to hit from anywhere."
Junior middle-blocker
Myriam Robitaille of Terrebonne, Que., contributed 16 points, courtesy of 10 kills, four aces and a block, to go along with six digs.
Elisabeth Perrault, a rookie from Laval, Que., scored 14 points, on the strength of 11 kills and three aces. She also had a pair of digs and an assist.
Emilie Matte de Grasse, a third-year power-hitter from Montreal, contributed 13 points, with a dozen kills and an ace in addition to 10 digs.
Senior
Erika Cournoyer, a six-foot middle-blocker from Longueuil, Que., added three kills, two aces, a pair of blocks and a trio of digs and assists.
Thara Dawoodjee, a third-year setter from Ottawa, registered a game-high 45 assists. She added three aces, one kill, two blocks and six digs.
"Thara's really improved," said Beliveau of the 5-foot-8 junior, who is in her first season as the Martlets' starting setter after watching and learning under the tutorship of her older sister Yasmeen, who graduated last spring. "Now it's a mix of being able to understand and manage the game, whereas before Christmas she had so much on her shoulders and didn't know how to manage it as well. She's beginning to understand how even as a setter, she can be offensively aggressive and not deliver the ball one-on-one. It's not a matter of dealing with each individual hitter all the time, it's going with the tendency of a game, the patterns and the momentum."
Caroline Lemay paced the Gee-Gees with 17.5 points, and teammate
Sabrina Roy led all players with 14 digs.
The fifth-place Gee-Gees (7-9) face cellar-dwelling UQAM (5-12) on Feb. 10. McGill (9-8) next hosts Sherbrooke (8-9) on Feb. 11 at Love Competition Hall, before wrapping up the schedule at UQAM (Feb. 17) and at home to the division-leading Montreal Carabins (Feb. 18).
| 2016-17 RSEQ Women's Volleyball Standings (updated after games on Feb. 5) • Classement de la saison régulière |
|
|
| 1 |
Montréal |
17 |
13 |
4 |
42 |
19 |
1442 |
1231 |
0.765 |
0.0 |
26 |
| 2 |
McGill |
17 |
9 |
8 |
36 |
35 |
1520 |
1563 |
0.529 |
4.0 |
18 |
| 3 |
Laval |
16 |
8 |
8 |
31 |
30 |
1326 |
1275 |
0.500 |
4.5 |
16 |
| 4 |
Sherbrooke |
17 |
8 |
9 |
34 |
32 |
1415 |
1416 |
0.471 |
5.0 |
16 |
| 5 |
Ottawa |
16 |
7 |
9 |
28 |
37 |
1394 |
1468 |
0.438 |
5.5 |
14 |
| 6 |
UQAM |
17 |
5 |
12 |
23 |
41 |
1322 |
1466 |
0.294 |
8.0 |
10 |
